As of 1/25/09 the national debt is $9,775,226,689,210.43
Your share: $31,911.93
Of course, this does not include any debt incurred on your behalf by your state or local government.
If you still believe mortgages are the cause of our recent financial crisis, I have a piece of Uranus I can sell you :lol:
Ralph
Ralph,
Dividing out, I get 306.3 million, which looks to be our (USA’s) population.
Wouldn’t it be more realistic to use the number of taxpayers as the divider instead?
Also, I would think an eye opener would be the cost of servicing the debt (yearly interest) vs. yearly federal income tax collected.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
Joe Satnik said:
Ralph,Dividing out, I get 306.3 million, which looks to be our (USA’s) population.
Wouldn’t it be more realistic to use the number of taxpayers as the divider instead?
Also, I would think an eye opener would be the cost of servicing the debt (yearly interest) vs. yearly federal income tax collected.
Sincerely,
Joe Satnik
I don’t have the number of taxpayers available. That would make your share significantly higher, probably in the $90,000-$100,000 range.
Currently, there are five in my household. My familiy’s share of the debt would be $159,5599.65 :o
The cost of servicing the debt vs. Federal income tax collected…a scarey thought.
Some Republican lawmakers are saying we can not spend our way out of the recession. Their position is we should cut taxes.
How is reducing income any different/better than increased spending? The end result is more debt in both cases.
Ralph
Quote…“Some Republican lawmakers are saying we can not spend our way out of the recession”.
Why not? Seems that’s how we got into it. Record debt, record spending. Somehow I doubt doing “more of the same” by Democrats or Republicans will help much.
I don’t mind the Republicans demanding less taxes but I wonder were their “righteous” voices were on excessive spending for the last 8 years!
If I spend $100 more a week, or make $100 less a week, the bottom line is the same.
If I have an extra $10 or $20 dollars a week in my paycheck…it will have very little positive impact on the economy.
Tax breaks tend to benefit the wealthy…just like the $750 billion dollar banking bailout.
And what have the banks done with the money to benefit the economy? Nothing. They are hanging on to the cash and laying off workers.
Meanwhile, they have jacked up the credit card rates and are trying to squeeze us for every nickle they can.
The banks have been paying almost nothing for their money and lending it at up to 33%. Yet they are bankrupt.
Where is the public outcry? How many bank executives are traveling by corperate jet? Our Congress dogs the hell out of the Automakers, but write the banks a blank check.
Ralph
You guys are depressing me…
Jon.
Jon Foster said:
You guys are depressing me...Jon.
Sorry Jon.
I avoid depression…with anger.
I’m still working on how to avoid the anger
Ralph
Ralph Berg said:Ralph just make that check payible to Geoff George and drop it in the mail. I will see to it it helps stemulate the economy. :)
I don't have the number of taxpayers available. That would make your share significantly higher, probably in the $90,000-$100,000 range. Currently, there are five in my household. My familiy's share of the debt would be $159,5599.65 :o The cost of servicing the debt vs. Federal income tax collected........a scarey thought. Some Republican lawmakers are saying we can not spend our way out of the recession. Their position is we should cut taxes. How is reducing income any different/better than increased spending? The end result is more debt in both cases. Ralph
"How is reducing income any different/better than increased spending? "
Its LESS that the government can waste and/or control. Almost unthinkable I know, but even the government can sometimes be forced to think efficiently.
Ric Golding said:
"How is reducing income any different/better than increased spending? "Its LESS that the government can waste and/or control.
Very true.
But a lack of control over the financial sector got us to where we are today.
Reducing my taxes by $10 or $20 a week would be nice. But it is not going to do anything to help the economy.
The $15,000 tax credit for purchasing a home may or may not help. If the banks aren’t lending the tax credit doesn’t help.
The national debt more than doubled in the last eight years.
Tax credits increase the national debt just as spending does.
Ralph
Ralph Berg said:
But a lack of control over the financial sector got us to where we are today.Ralph
Not so much a lack of control but more of the Government trying to tell them what they have to do.
A great deal of the bad debt should neverhave been given but banks were told you have to.
They intrun sold that bad debt to others how found a way to sell it to us.
Also, some of the blame belongs to the people that were buying house that they knew they should not have been.
Heck I would love to have a $300,000 house with a acker plue of land to do my layout on/in/around. But I know I can do that yet.
So I have a 80,000 house and a 1/4 acker I deal with. Its call personal responsablity and many have seemed to forget what that is and wont to blame or look to the government for help.
I still belive they should have let them all go under and not use Tax payer money to bail them out.
Just my BHO wonts my 2 cents worth. 
I got it, take the $14,000,000,000,000.00 we will be adding to the Federal Debt (P&I) and divide it up into a stimulus check for each American.
Each would get about $40,000 “stimulus check”. Many folks would pay off debt, thus infusing the banks with cash. Some would buy a car, auto manufacturers are stimulated, home remodel or down payment, etc. etc.
We now have Americans with low debt, new cars, health insurance, digital TV by the end of February, ALL problems solved.
Geoff George said:Ralph Berg said:
But a lack of control over the financial sector got us to where we are today.Ralph
Not so much a lack of control but more of the Government trying to tell them what they have to do.
A great deal of the bad debt should neverhave been given but banks were told you have to.
They intrun sold that bad debt to others how found a way to sell it to us.Also, some of the blame belongs to the people that were buying house that they knew they should not have been.
Heck I would love to have a $300,000 house with a acker plue of land to do my layout on/in/around. But I know I can do that yet.
So I have a 80,000 house and a 1/4 acker I deal with. Its call personal responsablity and many have seemed to forget what that is and wont to blame or look to the government for help.I still belive they should have let them all go under and not use Tax payer money to bail them out.
Just my BHO wonts my 2 cents worth.
I’m sorry Geoff,
You must have taken a big swig of the Kool aid if you still believe the lies the Bush administration perpetuated about poor people unable to pay their mortgages being the cause of the current financial crisis.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee 90% of the mortgages in the US. THEY HOLD A TOTAL OF $5 TRILLION in mortgage guarantees. 10% of the mortgages are bad according to the government.
THAT IS ONLY $500 BILLION.
THEY HAVE ALREADY SPENT SEVERAL TIMES THIS AMOUNT.
This is about uncontrolled gambling by the financial institutions. Lending billions for LLC’s to speculate on oil.
Selling billions in credit default swaps(insurance not called insurance to avoid regulation) with out putting any money aside to cover defaults.
Lehman Brothers biggest losses came from their London office and had nothing to do with mortgages.
Time to spit out that “W” kool aid.
Ralph
and it all began when Congress legislated (in 1996) that banking institutions MUST lend to low income (high risk) borrowers as a civil rights issue.
What bank in their right mind would want to lend mortgage money to an individual that has no means to repay? It used to require 20% down payment to buy a home, but the urban-poor couldn’t save up that much so gov’mint stepped in.
P.S. Now that G.W.Bush is no longer POTUS, who will you blame now?
Ralph
you need to trun off MSNBC and CNN.
Why is it “W” is to blame?
Were was Teddy boy and Nancy at? O thats right The Dems only controlled congrees and senate. Why would they wont to trun in there rich buddies who were running Fanny and Freddie and risk all the campain money.
I find it funny how the Republican party is called the party of the rich but there are more Millionar Dems in DC then there are Republicans. O and that is true for when they had controll as well.
I would love a JFK or Ronnie back in the White house.
O and by they way JFK cut taxes.
had to edit. only had one “F” in off and did not see that untill after posting.
Geoff George said:
Ralph you need to trun off MSNBC and CNN. Why is it "W" is to blame? Were was Teddy boy and Nancy at? O thats right The Dems only controlled congrees and senate. Why would they wont to trun in there rich buddies who were running Fanny and Freddie and risk all the campain money. I find it funny how the Republican party is called the party of the rich but there are more Millionar Dems in DC then there are Republicans. O and that is true for when they had controll as well.I would love a JFK or Ronnie back in the White house.
O and by they way JFK cut taxes.had to edit. only had one “F” in off and did not see that untill after posting.
Keep swillin’ the Kool Aid.
This crisis started with the Phil Gramm bill that removed all the safeguards from the banking industry that were enacted after the Great Depression.
This alowed banks once again to make very speculative investments they were previously barred from making.
The banks seriously abused the new freedom they were handed.
“W” is the perpetuator of the fraud…blaming the banks problems on minorities that the banks were forced by the Democrats to lend to.
You tell me…when the banks make at least 100% profit on every dollar they lend, how can losses of 10% hurt them? And in some cases they make as much as 30 times what they paid for the money.
They let the banks run amuck and we are supposed to pay for it.
Billions in Credit Default swaps. Billions in failed leveraged buyouts. Billions in junk bonds.
10% bad mortgages isn’t squat. The $500 billion in bad mortgages contribute a net loss to the economy of only $5 billion a month. Most 30 year mortgages have a monthly payment of 1% or less.
So if you want to keep swillin the Kool Aid, be my guest.
Ralph
Who Are the Villains of the Mortgage Mess?
by Daniel J. Mitchell
Daniel J. Mitchell is a senior fellow specializing in tax issues and author of The Flat Tax: Freedom, Fairness, Jobs, and Growth.
In this current mess, one problem is identifying the heroes and villains in Congress. Many analysts conveniently dodge this question and instead make the rather novel claim that the turmoil in financial markets somehow is the result of deregulation. Yet the financial services industry is probably the most heavily regulated sector of the American economy, saddled with hundreds of laws, thousands of regulations and a plethora of government agencies. If red tape were the answer, this problem never would have happened.
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Problem No. 3 – the Community Reinvestment Act: Politicians imposed numerous regulatory burdens on financial institutions, but “affordable lending” requirements such as those imposed as a result of the Community Reinvestment Act were among the most perverse. In effect, banks were extorted into making loans to people who were not credit worthy. This added to the bubble and expanded systemic risk. It’s also worth noting that poor people were victimized by this government policy, because many of them were lured into houses they could not afford.
Culprits: President Carter presumably deserves some of the blame because many of these policies were first imposed during his dismal reign, primarily with support from Democrats. But the so-called affordable-lending requirements were expanded during the Clinton and the current Bush administrations, so the GOP is not without blame.
The mortgage mess is just a drop in the bucket.
The real mess dwarfs the mortgages.
Ralph
Ralph Berg said:You are correct. The proposed $1,000,000,000,000 in payoffs to Obama's political cronies is obscene.
The mortgage mess is just a drop in the bucket. The real mess dwarfs the mortgages. Ralph