Thread: Government Finance 101

Here's a great explanation of the problem that even a knuckle dragging redneck like me pretty easily understood:

Food for thought..... This puts it into a much better perspective and is the
same for many countries in Europe ...

Why the U.S. was downgraded:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385

Got It ?????

OK now Lesson # 2:
Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:

Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in
your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your
ceilings.

What do you think you should do ......

Raise the ceilings, or pump out the excrement?

Your choice is coming Nov. 2012

If you only pump out some of the crap, it will still stink!!

Not so easy. If the family wasn't making enough money why didn't they increase their income????

Hey, you forgot the part about that household spending $6800 on guns per year!

How much of what the family spent was on RAD or HAD? Talk about deficit spending.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Not so easy. If the family wasn't making enough money why didn't they increase their income????

They did. They even bought their own printing presses to make their own money but it still wasn't enough

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

They did. They even bought their own printing presses to make their own money but it still wasn't enough

Too bad. They approached it from the wrong side. They should have gone out and gotten 2nd and 3rd jobs to bring in more money.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

They did. They even bought their own printing presses to make their own money but it still wasn't enough

FIFTY DOLLAR BILL! FIFTY DOLLAR BILL!

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Too bad. They approached it from the wrong side. They should have gone out and gotten 2nd and 3rd jobs to bring in more money.

Oh well. Maybe bigger government can bail them out. Like china

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385

Got It ?????

I did and it makes perfect sense to me. If the credit card company is happy to lend me another $16,500 and simply add it to the $142,710 that I'm supposed to pay them one day, I say who am I to stop them.

Originally Posted by 1OldGI

Why the U.S. was downgraded

Downgrade, shmowngrade - the willingness of the creditors to lend more didn't change, so let those who care about semantics worry about the downgrade.