Is the National Debt Really Too Big?

[Rozman]

Which basically comes down to this:

Our Debt Is Getting More Affordable

The affordability of our national debt is an issue that gets little attention. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis keeps track of how well the economy is handling our debt. It does so in the form of a chart that measures the percent of GDP devoted to paying interest on the nation’s debt. What that chart says is illuminating. According to the Fed, the percent of our nation’s GDP devoted to paying interest on the debt has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.

Presently, we spend roughly 1.4 percent of GDP to pay the interest on what the Federal government has borrowed. Since 1940, the largest share of GDP devoted to pay the interest on our debt was in 1990, when the U.S. spent roughly 3.25 percent of GDP on interest payments.

The share of GDP going to pay interest on the debt began falling in 1994. And, with the exception of the period of the Great Recession, has continued falling ever since. My guess is that if America’s credit rating was measured the same way consumers are measured when they finance the purchase of a car, we would get the car.

Of course, interest payments on our debt fell sharply because interest rates came down as a result of actions by the Federal Reserve to overcome the recession. But that’s not the only reason. The long-term reason our debt became more affordable is that the country has been growing steadily since the mid-1990s, except for the period immediately following the financial crisis. These two factors – growth and lower interest rates -- pushed down the country’s interest payments, as a percent of GDP, to levels not seen since Gerald Ford was in the White House.
Is the National Debt Really Too Big? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

Is the National Debt Really Too Big?

No

16 trillion and climbing....Obama and his crew wouldn't give a shit if it hits 20 trillion.
He and Michelle will be living in Hawaii laughing their asses off at the dopes who put them in power.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Which basically comes down to this:



In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

Is the National Debt Really Too Big?

No

16 trillion and climbing....Obama and his crew wouldn't give a shit if it hits 20 trillion.
He and Michelle will be living in Hawaii laughing their asses off at the dopes who put them in power.

Debt is always relative

repeat:

Debt is always relative

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

16 trillion and climbing....Obama and his crew wouldn't give a shit if it hits 20 trillion.
He and Michelle will be living in Hawaii laughing their asses off at the dopes who put them in power.

Not only that but Barry's constituents have no money so they are not the ones who will be paying off the debt, while they are the ones who are receiving most of the welfare entitlements that are causing the debt. Barry then has no incentive to care about the debt.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Not only that but Barry's constituents have no money so they are not the ones who will be paying off the debt

Really? What are the median incomes and net worth for Obama supporters vs. national and opponents?

Surely you have this information handy since making (yet another) claim about demographics along political lines. You might be right, maybe the median income of Obama supporters is $0, but I'd sure like to see the source of your information.

 

[emptystep]

The chicken littles yelling about the sequester and the chicken littles yelling about the debt. The moment is what it is and the future will be what it will be. The curve of the debt up, down, or flat is a relatively long curve relative to the affects of the sequester. We can give pushes and pulls to the deficit to change that curve without doing what the sequester does. It is like seeing a bend in the road a little ways up so you yank the wheel really, really hard and go straight into a ditch. Oh, and that ditch is going to hurt pretty dang bad.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Which basically comes down to this:

Our Debt Is Getting More Affordable

The affordability of our national debt is an issue that gets little attention. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis keeps track of how well the economy is handling our debt. It does so in the form of a chart that measures the percent of GDP devoted to paying interest on the nation’s debt. What that chart says is illuminating. According to the Fed, the percent of our nation’s GDP devoted to paying interest on the debt has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.

Presently, we spend roughly 1.4 percent of GDP to pay the interest on what the Federal government has borrowed. Since 1940, the largest share of GDP devoted to pay the interest on our debt was in 1990, when the U.S. spent roughly 3.25 percent of GDP on interest payments.

The share of GDP going to pay interest on the debt began falling in 1994. And, with the exception of the period of the Great Recession, has continued falling ever since. My guess is that if America’s credit rating was measured the same way consumers are measured when they finance the purchase of a car, we would get the car.

Of course, interest payments on our debt fell sharply because interest rates came down as a result of actions by the Federal Reserve to overcome the recession. But that’s not the only reason. The long-term reason our debt became more affordable is that the country has been growing steadily since the mid-1990s, except for the period immediately following the financial crisis. These two factors – growth and lower interest rates -- pushed down the country’s interest payments, as a percent of GDP, to levels not seen since Gerald Ford was in the White House.
Is the National Debt Really Too Big? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

It is only manageable because the interest rates are artificially set to basically 0%.
Put up numbers if the interest rates were normal....not so manageable.

 

[lynn63]

Welfare and Medicaid is payed from your social security taxes so it does effect the national debt.

 

[Desperado]

When you have to borrow 40 cents on every dollar you spend......
Yes the National Debt is big and it is growing bigger.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Which basically comes down to this:

Our Debt Is Getting More Affordable

The affordability of our national debt is an issue that gets little attention. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis keeps track of how well the economy is handling our debt. It does so in the form of a chart that measures the percent of GDP devoted to paying interest on the nation’s debt. What that chart says is illuminating. According to the Fed, the percent of our nation’s GDP devoted to paying interest on the debt has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.

Presently, we spend roughly 1.4 percent of GDP to pay the interest on what the Federal government has borrowed. Since 1940, the largest share of GDP devoted to pay the interest on our debt was in 1990, when the U.S. spent roughly 3.25 percent of GDP on interest payments.

The share of GDP going to pay interest on the debt began falling in 1994. And, with the exception of the period of the Great Recession, has continued falling ever since. My guess is that if America’s credit rating was measured the same way consumers are measured when they finance the purchase of a car, we would get the car.

Of course, interest payments on our debt fell sharply because interest rates came down as a result of actions by the Federal Reserve to overcome the recession. But that’s not the only reason. The long-term reason our debt became more affordable is that the country has been growing steadily since the mid-1990s, except for the period immediately following the financial crisis. These two factors – growth and lower interest rates -- pushed down the country’s interest payments, as a percent of GDP, to levels not seen since Gerald Ford was in the White House.
Is the National Debt Really Too Big? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

The debt is manageable but a 2% decrease in projected increase will cause the end of the world...uh huh

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Remember, Democrats think Solyanda and Detroit are huge success

 

[Wry Catcher]

16 trillion and climbing....Obama and his crew wouldn't give a shit if it hits 20 trillion.
He and Michelle will be living in Hawaii laughing their asses off at the dopes who put them in power.

Not only that but Barry's constituents have no money so they are not the ones who will be paying off the debt, while they are the ones who are receiving most of the welfare entitlements that are causing the debt. Barry then has no incentive to care about the debt.

Stating you know all who voted for The President have no money is all the evidence needed conclude you're a partisan hack; that you provide no evidence to support your comments is ample evidence you're a liar. By tying all supporters of The President as Welfare Recipients suggests you're a bigot and further evidence you're a liar. That Stephanie thanked you for this post is ample evidence you are not to ever be taken seriously.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Which basically comes down to this:

Our Debt Is Getting More Affordable

The affordability of our national debt is an issue that gets little attention. Fortunately, the Federal Reserve of St. Louis keeps track of how well the economy is handling our debt. It does so in the form of a chart that measures the percent of GDP devoted to paying interest on the nation’s debt. What that chart says is illuminating. According to the Fed, the percent of our nation’s GDP devoted to paying interest on the debt has fallen to its lowest level since 1973.

Presently, we spend roughly 1.4 percent of GDP to pay the interest on what the Federal government has borrowed. Since 1940, the largest share of GDP devoted to pay the interest on our debt was in 1990, when the U.S. spent roughly 3.25 percent of GDP on interest payments.

The share of GDP going to pay interest on the debt began falling in 1994. And, with the exception of the period of the Great Recession, has continued falling ever since. My guess is that if America’s credit rating was measured the same way consumers are measured when they finance the purchase of a car, we would get the car.

Of course, interest payments on our debt fell sharply because interest rates came down as a result of actions by the Federal Reserve to overcome the recession. But that’s not the only reason. The long-term reason our debt became more affordable is that the country has been growing steadily since the mid-1990s, except for the period immediately following the financial crisis. These two factors – growth and lower interest rates -- pushed down the country’s interest payments, as a percent of GDP, to levels not seen since Gerald Ford was in the White House.
Is the National Debt Really Too Big? | The Exchange - Yahoo! Finance

In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

The debt is manageable but a 2% decrease in projected increase will cause the end of the world...uh huh

Stepanie would have thanked you for this post, but even she was too embarrassed to do so.

 

[Decus]

"We'll be spending over $1 trillion a year on interest by 2020. That's $1 trillion we can't spend to educate our kids or to replace our badly worn-out infrastructure," said Bowles at a recent forum hosted by IHS Global Insight. "What makes it doubly bad is that trillion will be spent principally in Asia, because that's where our debt is."

National Debt Interest Payments Dwarf Other Government Spending [CHART] - US News and World Report

 

[Quantum Windbag]

He raised them across the board.

Unlike Reagan..who cut them for the rich..then really socked it to the middle class.

He raised them on the middle class because the only way to get more money for the government is to raise taxes on the middle class.

So Reagan gets a pass on raising taxes because he only raised them on the middle class..because if he raised them on the rich it wouldn't have gone into government coffers?

Is that what I said? Are you letting your own ignorant bias put words in your head?

By the way, I was referring to Clinton. You should learn to follow a conversation and stop assuming that my use of a personal pronoun refers back to the last person you mentioned.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Is the National Debt Really Too Big?

No

16 trillion and climbing....Obama and his crew wouldn't give a shit if it hits 20 trillion.
He and Michelle will be living in Hawaii laughing their asses off at the dopes who put them in power.

Debt is always relative

repeat:

Debt is always relative

The national debt is a big fucking relative.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The chicken littles yelling about the sequester and the chicken littles yelling about the debt. The moment is what it is and the future will be what it will be. The curve of the debt up, down, or flat is a relatively long curve relative to the affects of the sequester. We can give pushes and pulls to the deficit to change that curve without doing what the sequester does. It is like seeing a bend in the road a little ways up so you yank the wheel really, really hard and go straight into a ditch. Oh, and that ditch is going to hurt pretty dang bad.

What happened? Did you wake up this morning and discover the world did not collapse, so you have to pretend you never cried the sky was falling about the sequester?

There is a difference, the sequester is a fake issue, the debt is a real one.

 

[Wry Catcher]

"We'll be spending over $1 trillion a year on interest by 2020. That's $1 trillion we can't spend to educate our kids or to replace our badly worn-out infrastructure," said Bowles at a recent forum hosted by IHS Global Insight. "What makes it doubly bad is that trillion will be spent principally in Asia, because that's where our debt is."

National Debt Interest Payments Dwarf Other Government Spending [CHART] - US News and World Report

The solution to the debt crisis is simple: pay it off. Cutting spending and cutting taxes will never reduce the deficit and the debt will continue to grow.

So, what's the solution?

1. Raise income taxes.

2. Use tariffs to protect home grown industry.

3. Put a .10 cent tax on each and every purchase of stocks, bonds, ET's, etc.

4. End black markets (taxes paid on Marijuana alone would go a long way to reduce the defict)

5. Tax the gaming industry.

6. Put Americans to work building, rebuilding, repairing and upgrading our nation's infrastructure.

7. Let the world know the US will no longer police the world.

8. Collect taxes from the scafflaws.

9. Establish a North American Oil Coalition with Canada and Mexico and keep the oil here.

 

[Staidhup]

The issue of current debt and interest payments required to service the debt do not take in consideration non current unfunded liabilities, future projected increases in the interest rates, and annual increases in the debt as a result of spending in excess of annual revenues. The government continues to dig a deeper hole, from a long term approach the current financial model is unsustainable. The measurement of current debt and debt service requirement to GDP serves to further mask the severity of the situation and is utilized by those that wish to kick the can down the road to the next generation. One can only wonder what the true current interest rate would be if the Fed was prohibited from purchasing $95 billion a month in debt securities to hold interest rates down at the expense of devaluing the purchasing power of the dollar.

 

[emptystep]

The chicken littles yelling about the sequester and the chicken littles yelling about the debt. The moment is what it is and the future will be what it will be. The curve of the debt up, down, or flat is a relatively long curve relative to the affects of the sequester. We can give pushes and pulls to the deficit to change that curve without doing what the sequester does. It is like seeing a bend in the road a little ways up so you yank the wheel really, really hard and go straight into a ditch. Oh, and that ditch is going to hurt pretty dang bad.

What happened? Did you wake up this morning and discover the world did not collapse, so you have to pretend you never cried the sky was falling about the sequester?

There is a difference, the sequester is a fake issue, the debt is a real one.

I did not know that there was a requirement that government employees that to have 30 days notice before being furloughed. I am very glad for them that they do. So rather than Monday the timer is set for one month. There will be changes Monday though, small changes but changes that should have never happened. Look, there is nothing I would like more than to be proved completely wrong on every last little bit of this but I won't be. I wish I was wrong but I am not.

The sequester is not a fake issue and neither is the deficit. If the Republicans chose ideology over country once what is to say they will not continue to do so. This might drag on until 2014. At this point odds are about even the way I see it. 2014 is a very, very, very long away. The deficit can be handled with a certain about of patience but not that damn much.

Are Republicans evil or just ignorant? Let's just say I am going to play ignorant because I don't want to be like a Republican.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

In other words..the debt is manageable and can be shrunk without doing crazy, economy killing cuts.

Clinton proved it.

too stupid and completely liberal of course!!. Debt was nothing under Clinton; now it is $150,000 per family. Its just like having another mortgage and it cuts down every families standard of living by exactly what another mortgage would.

Republican capitalism made us all rich, and then liberals stole
the money!!