| Congress passes a federal budget every year. I doubt that one in ten people have a clue on what the real problem has been for way too many years. Folks we listen to the media, Congress and Obama talk like everyone knows how to comprehend the impact when they talk about in trillions of dollars. For the 90% who can’t comprehend or could care less take a look at the following comparisons. First look at the breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. The 2011 federal budget figures are:*
US income: $2,170,000,000,000
* Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)
Take a look at numbers, even those in poverty, can relate to by removing eight zeros from the numbers.
Now observe what a fictitious family budget and spending at the same ratio would look like:
* Total annual income for the family: $21,700
* Money the family would spend: $38,200
* New debt added to their credit card: $16,500
* Balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Amount cut from the budget: $385
Last month Congress, or in this example the family, sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $385 from its annual budget. What family would cut $385 of spending in order to solve $16,500 in deficit spending? It is a start, but will it solve the problem?After many years of this, the family has $142,710 of debt on its credit card (which is the equivalent of the national debt).
You would think the family would recognize and address this situation, but it does not. Neither does Congress.
The US debt problem is a result of the voters sending people to Congress to spend money, not live within their means. They are elected to bring home the bacon to their own home state.
To force the government to live within its means we have to have laws that prohibit spending even a dime, if it was not budgeted. How, we need to change all Congress job descriptions and demand conformance. Term limits would be a great starting point. Citing a message I received recently, limit Congress to two terms. The first term in office, the second in prison if they refuse to follow the laws of the land.
We must reverse this senseless practice of expecting future generations to pay for previous mismanagement of the economy. Will it be easy, no, but it has to be done now. In reality Congress has reverse mortgaged our country. Voters and Congress have become addicted to the money and continue to deny we have a problem. Neither desire to admit themselves into rehab. Everyone must live within a balanced budget if they expect to survive. Let me welcome everyone to “Common Sense 101”. Thanks to Mr. David Thomas for these figures and his ideas.
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A Conservative View 
Hey dummy, we had a balanced budget before the Bush tax cuts. The debt nearly doubled under Bush because of the tax cuts and two wars. Reduced revenues due to high unemployment have decreased revenues, which also increased the deficits, as have increased payouts for unemployment benefits.
The problems caused by conservative policies haven’t been corrected. The stimulus was 1/3 tax cuts, so that made the problem worse. Our credit rating is rumored to be in the process of being downgraded as I write this. That is purely the fault of Republicans and their refusal to increase revenues. We’re now paying 1/2 trillion dollars just on interest on the debt.
My comments included Bush, Clinton, Bush, Carter, Nixon and for sure LBJ. Obama did not start the process of idiotic spending he and his band of progressives just excellerated the speed in which we reached the cliff. Now they want to jump into the frying pan with Europe. Bush was terrible but Obama is so misguided by people like you that have no idea what is happening. All people like you do is search for a crisis, blame anyone possible and suck off the successful. Get a life Ben.
complex numbers explained in very simple terms.