tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post110676404967490753..comments2023-11-30T02:30:42.825-08:00Comments on E a r t h G o a t: Once you get past six digits, they're just zerosGrendelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106794212391141212005-01-26T18:50:00.000-08:002005-01-26T18:50:00.000-08:00Grover Norquist wants to bankrupt the government.....Grover Norquist wants to bankrupt the government....G.W.Bush wants to have it all, or just enough so he and his friends can cash out.<br /><br />I have always thought that a nice analogy to credit-card debt - which the average American definitely understands - would go a long way toward explaining why these big, abstract numbers actually matter.<br /><br />Today, while listening to the Prez himself hold a press conference, during which he was asked about Social Security privatization, it occurred to me that I would LOVE to hear him explain exactly how his so-called "reform" would result in savings down the road, or why it is that we should believe that deficits don't matter. He doesn't even have the most fundamental grasp of basic economic principles - it would be hilarious if it weren't so...er...real.<br /><br />Incidentally, have y'all been following the whole nomenclature issue on www.talkingpointsmemo.com? They've been tracking how the Bush administration is now trying to force the press to say "personal accounts" instead of "private accounts," even though the latter was the administration's preferred term as recently as mid-January.SERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12373736323966370971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106793679408628322005-01-26T18:41:00.000-08:002005-01-26T18:41:00.000-08:00The total debt is some 7.6 trillion, or roughly 4X...The total debt is some 7.6 trillion, or roughly 4X annual receipts. Taking your family earning $100,000 a year, adding $24,000 to a credit card every year -- they already have $400,000 on the credit card.Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106785849024959532005-01-26T16:30:00.000-08:002005-01-26T16:30:00.000-08:00It's because Our Beloved Leader is trying to delib...It's because Our Beloved Leader is trying to deliberately bankrupt the government, so all the programs have to be cut.TLBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00528402228927046821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106766699312631272005-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:002005-01-26T11:11:00.000-08:00Why you choose to disparage Beanie Weenies, I have...Why you choose to disparage Beanie Weenies, I have no idea.El Gordo de Amorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17910902204038306933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106766561993175322005-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:002005-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00But wait... isn't our debt largely financed by for...But wait... isn't our debt largely financed by foreign purchases of treasury bills? So, in a way, Saudi Arabia and Japan and China are loaning us the money to buy their oil, cars, and Wal-Mart products?Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106766368587115982005-01-26T11:06:00.000-08:002005-01-26T11:06:00.000-08:00It was because I hit Stop and trimmed my estimate ...It was because I hit Stop and trimmed my estimate in the second post.<br /><br />Anybody figured out how to delete comments? The Blogger Help is bullshit on this topic. El Gordo, you did it once I remember.Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106766017940673032005-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:002005-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00I have no idea why that posted 3 times -- my apolo...I have no idea why that posted 3 times -- my apologies.Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106765880426958482005-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:002005-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00I read somewhere that every American baby is born ...I read somewhere that every American baby is born owing $26,000 as its share of the national debt.<br /><br />Or take the new projected deficit of $427 billion. Divide by latest estimate of US population: 293,000,000. That comes to $1457 per person, just for this year's government overspending.<br /><br />And what about the fact that the single biggest item in the budget -- bigger than the military budget -- is interest payments on the loans the government has taken out? Reagan tripled the debt, right? Be conservative: say $2 trillion of the debt is due to nothing else but interest on debt payments, payable to the wealthy, because of tax cuts, targeted at the wealthy. That's roughly $7,000 you owe, I owe, my child will owe, to wealthy lenders as interest on the money they loan the government to finance their own tax cuts.<br /><br />In a real country, this would bring revolution. Here, it brings "Who's Your Daddy?"Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10113687.post-1106765878346937492005-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:002005-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:00I read somewhere that every American baby is born ...I read somewhere that every American baby is born owing $26,000 as its share of the national debt.<br /><br />Or take the new projected deficit of $427 billion. Divide by latest estimate of US population: 293,000,000. That comes to $1457 per person, just for this year's government overspending.<br /><br />And what about the fact that the single biggest item in the budget -- bigger than the military budget -- is interest payments on the loans the government has taken out? Reagan tripled the debt, right? Be conservative: say $4 trillion of the debt is due to nothing else but interest on debt payments, payable to the wealthy, because of tax cuts, targeted at the wealthy. That's roughly $14,000 you owe, I owe, my child will owe, to wealthy lenders as interest on the money they loan the government to finance their own tax cuts.<br /><br />In a real country, this would bring revolution. Here, it brings "Who's Your Daddy?"Grendelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06664099783685963708noreply@blogger.com