The Debt Clock is Overheating. . . .

[Foxfyre]

This week our local newspaper reported that our own University of New Mexico is one of 25 universities selected by the Up to Us Campaign for a national competition. Each of the 25 university teams will develop a strategy to educate and engage their local campus communities on potential impacts of the skyrocketing national debt. I wonder if the media will reliably report the results of the competition?

This is a subject that should be of interest to every American.
I don't know how accurate this real time national debt clock is, but it does seem to come up with the accurate number at the end of each year so, for whatever it is worth, look at this:

http://usadebtclock.com/

The national debt hit $17 trillion a little over a week ago, and today, if the debt clock is right, we are already well over $300 billion past that and counting. If the clock is right, and you do the math, we are adding between $40 and $50 billion to the debt each and every day.
And a huge chunk of that is money borrowed from countries who likely don't like us very much, much less have our best interests at heart.

Does this bother anybody other than me?

EDIT: Here is the link to what is probably the more accurate debt clock:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html

 

[g5000]

It bothers everyone. Well, except for Dick "Deficits Don't Matter" Cheney, I guess.

 

[TemplarKormac]

[MENTION=6847]Foxfyre[/MENTION]:

Yes this should bother any American with a conscience.

[EDIT] I thought you were referring to usdebtclock dot org. My apologies.

 

[TemplarKormac]

It bothers everyone. Well, except for Dick "Deficits Don't Matter" Cheney, I guess.

Except maybe for you, perhaps.

 

[g5000]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a gigantic surplus.

Easy peasey.

 

[TemplarKormac]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a surplus.

Easy peasey.

Isn't 1 a Republican idea? And what about 2?

 

[Foxfyre]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a gigantic surplus.

Easy peasey.

Could you clarify that with the numbers as you see it or a link please?

 

[Foxfyre]

It has happened incrementally: a million allocated for that, four hundred million allocated for something else, a billion set aside to fund some other program with a noble sounding title. But over time, it all adds up to a number so large it is meaningless to a lot of people. It is uninteresting to people with no sense of proportion. It is of no consequence to people who can't count all the zeros and anyway, a zero signifies nothing of importance, yes? And all the numbers on that debt clock are little numbers yes?

For consideration:

As of October 1 of each year - the beginning of the budgetary year. . . .

How much the national debt increased for the last few years:
Fiscal 2007: $500,679,473,047.25
Fiscal 2008: $1,017,071,524,650.01
Fiscal 2009: $1,885,104,106,599.26
Fiscal 2010: $1,651,794,027,380.04
Fiscal 2011: $1,228,717,297,665.36
Fiscal 2012: $1,275,901,078,828.74.
USA Debt Clock » Debt increased 1,275,901,078,828.74 for fiscal year 2012.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Five consecutive 1 trillion plus deficits. Holy smokes.

 

[g5000]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a surplus.

Easy peasey.

Isn't 1 a Republican idea? And what about 2?

Gee, what a coincidence. I'm a lifelong Republican! Since before you were born, probably.

 

[OKTexas]

The debt is only one facet that will be the demise of the country, the debt pales in comparison to our unfunded liabilities which are 90 trillion and rising.

 

[TemplarKormac]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a surplus.

Easy peasey.

Isn't 1 a Republican idea? And what about 2?

Gee, what a coincidence. I'm a lifelong Republican! Since before you were born, probably.

You're a RINO, g5. A progressive if anything.

 

[Foxfyre]

Five consecutive 1 trillion plus deficits. Holy smokes.

Yes, and the President who campaigned vigorously that the spending and deficits were unpatriotic, irresponsible, and indicative of poor leadership now seems to be oblivious to that being a problem. We won't be able to look to Washington for a solution. It will have to be a grass roots demand from the people.

Here is an additional perspective:

National Debt in Dollar Amounts

Current - 17,300,000,000,000 (rounded and counting)
09/30/2012 - 16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011 - 14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010 - 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 - 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 - 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 - 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 - 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 - 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 - 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 - 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 - 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 - 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 - 5,674,178,209,886.86
Government - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 2000 - 2012

 

[DiamondDave]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a gigantic surplus.

Easy peasey.

Bring every citizen earning at least $1 into the group of income tax payers... no zero tax bills for anyone...

Stop handing out freebies to bums and foreign nations

Stop handing out bullshit 'stimulus' as corporate welfare

Eliminate agencies that have no business being in the federal government

Done. I just gave you a giant surplus.

Easy Peasey

 

[TemplarKormac]

Five consecutive 1 trillion plus deficits. Holy smokes.

Yes, and the President who campaigned vigorously that the spending and deficits were unpatriotic, irresponsible, and indicative of poor leadership now seems to be oblivious to that being a problem. We won't be able to look to Washington for a solution. It will have to be a grass roots demand from the people.

Here is an additional perspective:

National Debt in Dollar Amounts

Current - 17,300,000,000,000 (rounded and counting)
09/30/2012 - 16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011 - 14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010 - 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 - 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 - 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 - 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 - 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 - 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 - 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 - 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 - 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 - 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 - 5,674,178,209,886.86
Government - Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 2000 - 2012

 

[Sunshine]

This week our local newspaper reported that our own University of New Mexico is one of 25 universities selected by the Up to Us Campaign for a national competition. Each of the 25 university teams will develop a strategy to educate and engage their local campus communities on potential impacts of the skyrocketing national debt. I wonder if the media will reliably report the results of the competition?

This is a subject that should be of interest to every American.
I don't know how accurate this real time national debt clock is, but it does seem to come up with the accurate number at the end of each year so, for whatever it is worth, look at this:

Real Time US National Debt Clock | USA Debt Clock.com

The national debt hit $17 trillion a little over a week ago, and today, if the debt clock is right, we are already well over $300 billion past that and counting. If the clock is right, and you do the math, we are adding between $40 and $50 billion to the debt each and every day.
And a huge chunk of that is money borrowed from countries who likely don't like us very much, much less have our best interests at heart.

Does this bother anybody other than me?

I find it increasingly comforting that my daughter married a citizen of the UK and, therefore, has options. I am not sure I see my children, either of them, being American citizens during their advanced years.

 

[g5000]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a gigantic surplus.

Easy peasey.

Could you clarify that with the numbers as you see it or a link please?

Gladly!

1. In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, 5.6 percent of the population was over the age of 65. Life expectancy was 60. So Social Security was for those who lived beyond the mean.

In 1965, when Medicare was enacted, 9 percent of the population was over the age of 65. Average life expectancy was 70.

Today, 13 percent of our populaton is over 65. And life expectancy is 78. We are well on our way toward tripling the percentage of Americans drawing Social Security than we had in the beginning.

We are living decades longer than our ancestors, it is just plain common sense that we should be working longer.

Working five years longer, and thus paying into the system five years longer, and retiring five years later, and thus drawing from the system five years less, would be huge increases in revenues, and huge decreases in spending.



2. How Large Are Tax Expenditures? A 2012 Update

For fiscal 2012, for example, individual income tax expenditures total $942 billion and corporate ones $151 billion. On a static basis, those provisions thus reduce income tax receipts by almost $1.1 trillion. In addition, some provisions — the refundable credits
—also increase federal outlays. Those outlay effects total another $91 billion in fiscal 2012, primarily from the earned income tax credit and the child credit. The total budget impact of income tax expenditures in 2012 is thus nearly $1.2 trillion.

We are living in a society where people earning identical incomes are paying radically different amounts of their income in taxes. This is sheer insanity. For every penny of their income someone gets returned to them by an expenditures, someone else has to give up a penny.

This results in higher tax rates. But the American people will tolerate only so much when it comes to increasing taxes. So to pay for all those expenditures, our accomadating politicians who want to be re-elected borrow the money by the trillions.

Everyone who takes advantage of a deduction or credit is contributing to higher tax rates and the national debt. They are being carried on other people's backs.

Not only that, but allowing Congressmen to put tax breaks, credits, deductions, loopholes, and boondoggles into the tax code opens the door wide for corruption. If you take away a Congressman's ability to put a carve-out in the tax code for his campaign supporters, you take away the incentive for bribery. Instant serendipitous campaign finance reform!

 

[Foxfyre]

1. Raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages to 70, and index to 9 percent of the population.

2. Ban all tax expenditures.

Done! I just gave you a gigantic surplus.

Easy peasey.

Could you clarify that with the numbers as you see it or a link please?

Gladly!

1. In 1935, when Social Security was enacted, 5.6 percent of the population was over the age of 65. Life expectancy was 60. So Social Security was for those who lived beyond the mean.

In 1965, when Medicare was enacted, 9 percent of the population was over the age of 65. Average life expectancy was 70.

Today, 13 percent of our populaton is over 65. And life expectancy is 78. We are well on our way toward tripling the percentage of Americans drawing Social Security.

We are living decades longer than our ancestors, it is just plain common sense that we should be working longer.

Working five years longer, and thus paying into the system five years longer, and retiring five years later, and thus drawing from the system five years less, would be huge increases in revenues, and huge decreases in spending.



2. How Large Are Tax Expenditures? A 2012 Update

For fiscal 2012, for example, individual income tax expenditures total $942 billion and corporate ones $151 billion. On a static basis, those provisions thus reduce income tax receipts by almost $1.1 trillion. In addition, some provisions — the refundable credits
—also increase federal outlays. Those outlay effects total another $91 billion in fiscal 2012, primarily from the earned income tax credit and the child credit. The total budget impact of income tax expenditures in 2012 is thus nearly $1.2 trillion.

We are living in a society where people earning identical incomes are paying radically different amounts of their income in taxes. This is sheer insanity. For every penny of their income someone gets returned to them by an expenditures, someone else has to give up a penny.

This results in higher tax rates. But the American people will tolerate only so much when it comes to increasing taxes. So to pay for all those expenditures, our accomadating politicians who want to be re-elected borrow the money by the trillions.

Everyone who takes advantage of a deduction or credit is contributing to higher tax rates and the national debt. They are being carried on other people's backs.

Good information, but it does not address how your suggestion accomplishes balancing the budget and eliminating a $17 trillion dollar debt. I'm not saying you're wrong about that or that you aren't stating it like it is. I just want some evidence.

 

[Foxfyre]

Oh and I checked out TK's site for the debt clock and it does show somewhat different numbers but still is in no way comforting:

U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time

 

[g5000]

If you survived to age 21 in 1940, you had a 55 percent chance of surviving to age 65.

If you survived to age 21 in 1990, you had a 75 percent chance of surviving to age 65.

It is far past time to raise the Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages.