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The View from the Meadow
Observations of the Passing Scene
Political and Social Commentary by Dave Satre
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The National Debt Tops its Limit
The United States’ National Debt has topped the $9 trillion mark and is growing exponentially at almost $1.5 billion per day! This is the highest debt in the history of the country, even in the Reagan years or during World War II. Bush has already lifted the limit four times during his presidency and has now exceeded it again. Each American Citizen’s share of this debt is almost $30 thousand.
Basically, the national debt is the amount owed by the federal government. Historically, this money was borrowed from its own people by selling bonds, treasury bills and other government-backed notes. Traditionally, this debt is held by state and local governments, brokers, mutual funds, holders of U.S. savings bonds, insurance companies, banks and credit unions.
But, now the federal government is seeking foreign investments to finance the Bush Administration’s prodigious spending policies. Foreigners now hold more than fifty percent of the debt, which is growing so rapidly that financial monitors are worrying that the country will soon be unable to pay the interest on the debt, much less pay it off. If this happens, foreign investors could call in the debt, theoretically placing the U.S. in bankruptcy.
Currently, the top foreign holders of U.S. Treasury Securities are Japan: $610.9 billion; China: $407.8 billion; the UK: $210.1 billion; oil exporters: $123.8 billion and Brazil: $104.7 billion.
We are told by Bush and Co. that Medicaid, Social Security and other programs that benefit the public, not the rabid squandering of the US Treasury on the military, will drive the Debt so high that our children and our children’s children will be paying for this for eternity. This sounds like eternal debt.
Most Americans are aware of the folly of living in debt. This is definitely not a workable fiscal policy for any government.
Congress originally authorized The Treasury Department to issue debt as needed to fund government operations as long as the debt does not exceed the limit. The Treasury auctions off $4 trillion in debt each year to fund these operations.
The Bush Administration has raised the ceiling four times. The most recent heist occurred in March, 2006, when the limit was raised to $9 trillion. This mark has now been obliterated.
The only time the National Debt actually reached zero was in early 1835, under President Andrew Jackson, but it exploded during the Civil War, topping the $1 billion mark in 1863. The debt increased persistently after that, hitting the $22 billion mark in World War I and to $260 billion after WW II.
The debt reached a postwar low in 1981, but more than tripled during the Reagan Era, due to the Republicans’ failed Trickle Down Economic Theories, which are again in practice in the GW Bush White House. Apparently, the idea is to give the rich all the money so they can spend it freely, with some of the leftovers trickling down to the peons to create enough of an economy for the wealthy to make more money. It works well for them, but not so well for the poor and middle classes.
Reagan started out as the head of the world’s richest nation – but ended with the U.S. as the world’s largest debtor. We were told then, as we are now, that the tide was irreversible that our children grandchildren would have to pay off this debt.
Clinton disproved the peon theory and began to reduce the debt. It peaked in 1996 and declined after that, demonstrating the possibility of total elimination of the debt in the future. The curve bottomed out in 2001 and began its current rapid ascent under GW Bush’s direction.
The lying Bush Republicans claim to be fiscal conservatives and in favor of less government. Truthfully, they are the biggest spenders in the planet's history. More than 70 percent of the national debt was created under Reagan, Bush the Elder and GW Bush.
The National Debt Clock in Times Square ( LINK ) is ticking again. The clock was originally created in 1989 by Seymour Durst to increase public awareness of the huge debt caused by the Reagan Administration. It was unplugged during the Clinton years because it lacked the ability to run backwards. Under Bush, it was whirring away once again at breakneck speed.
The old clock was replaced in 2004 with a new model that can run backwards, although it doesn’t look like that feature will be in use during the Republican administration. But, apparently, the clock is not large enough. If GW and his cronies push the Debt over the $10 trillion level the clock will not be able to handle 14-digit number. It lacks the required digit. Evidently its designers didn’t see Bush coming and didn’t believe that 14th digit would ever be necessary in America.
In a related issue, the national budget deficit reached a previous low of $135 billion under GHW Bush.
Clinton took control after the Reagan-Bush era and turned that deficit into a $526 billion surplus, the highest level since the early 1960’s, which he handed over to GW Bush. Bush aggressively turned that surplus into a $648 deficit in his first term. Republican concerns over the 2008 elections have driven Bush and Co. to reverse this direction and they have reduced the deficit to about $496 billion. But, with the National Debt increasing rapidly it seems evident that Bush is borrowing the money to fund his extravagant spending policies, placing the country in hock in the process.
So, why is the National Debt out of control? Why is the Bush Administration, which continuously claims to be for cutting back government spending, driving the country bankrupt?
The main problem is the incredible squandering of money in Iraq. This is a basic problem with the Bush Administration’s favoritism to its cronies, which are primarily involved in the oil, energy and military industries. Billions of dollars are simply disappearing in Iraq, the result of the award of no-bid contracts to Halliburton, Bechtel and Blackwater. This situation encourages corruption. To the people profiting from this situation it is like free money.
The administration’s policies are the result of the hard-right conservatives that control the Bush White House. They are the people who developed the Project for a New American Century (LINK), which is a basic blueprint for taking over the world and putting its control in the hands of the ultra rich. These people have no real concern for the welfare of America and Americans. It’s all about the money.
It appears, at this point, that the only possible solution for this situation is to either impeach Bush and get rid of this administration, or to wait for the 2008 election and hope the new Democratic president will have the ability to reverse directions and save America.
Don’t hold your breath, America.
Dave Satre
Sep 20th, 2007
Meadow Links Concerning this Topic:
Wake Up America -- Facism in the White House
Pre-empt the Regime -- Stop the Project for the New American Century
Other Links: