U.S. Government Debt Soars

By the time you have read this headline our national debt has expanded by about 1 million dollars.

Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute.

What's that mean to you?

It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States.

Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion.

What happens when we can no longer even pay the interest on the national debt? It will mean the end of social programs and will usher in a period when the United States will economically be a third world nation. Who is responsible for this? Lets take a look at the facts.

Ronald Reagan inherited a national debt of around 1 trillion dollars. The national debt is now over 9 trillion and should reach 10 trillion by the time George W. Bush leaves office. The only President during this time frame that balanced the budget was President Clinton so a vast majority of the debt can be blamed on just three Presidents - Reagan and the Bushes with George W. Bush accounting for 40% of the total national debt.

When you hear numbers like this you realize just how badly the middle class is screwed but if you think this was an accident then think again. This is a conservatives dream to make the government small enough to drown in a bathtub. This will be the end of social security, medicare, medicaid and all other social programs that they hate so much. The practical effect on the country will be a society of haves and have nots with a vast majority being the have nots.

If you think this can not happen here then research Argentina when nearly overnight a vast majority of their population was plunged into poverty. If you think this can never happen here then you are sadly mistaken.

Rules Hiding Trillions In Debt

The Federal Government is using Enron like accounting practicies to hide trillions in debt.

The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel. The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006.

"We're on an unsustainable path and doing a great disservice to future generations," says Chris Chocola, a former Republican member of Congress from Indiana and corporate chief executive who is pushing for more accurate federal accounting.

Do you still feel like the richest country on earth? Our national debt has the capability of destroying the middle class and turning the United States into Argentina. When will the American people demand that our financial house be put in order?