This came across my desk today. It was so clear and concise, I thought it was worth posting.
____________________
U.S. Tax Revenue Understood
U.S. Tax Revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 (trillion)
Federal Budget: $3,820,000,000,000 (trillion)
New Debt: $1,650,000,000,000 (trillion)
National Debt: $14,271,000,000,000 (trillion)
Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000 (billion)
Now let's remove eight zeros and pretend it's a household budget.
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family spent: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Total budget cuts: $385
NOW does it make sense?
But that makes it so simple! Even Congress could understand! Naaa!
ReplyDelete-K in OK<><
This should be sent to every member of Congress! It really makes the numbers real when they are in scale with an "average" household. Holy Hannah, only $385 of cuts, how do they ever think they'll pay off the credit cards?
ReplyDeletei second that idea! send it to congressional leaders and to the economists that say they know what they are doing .
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much of the money spent is Congress salaries ...there's a place that could be trimmed. People in the private sector are facing cuts in hours and wages and told to 'suck it up, times are tough' by their employers and by this administration. I say what's good for the goose, well ...you know.
ReplyDeleteWould not do any good to sent it to congress. They already know they're spending more than they ream us for. They would just say "it still needs to be done, for your own good" and keep spending. Might even spend even more since it sounded less with the zeros knocked off.
ReplyDeleteIf you send it to Congress, they will form a committee, study it for 6 mos and not act on it.
ReplyDeleteWe can't spend more then we bring in, but they can.
We all know about the Debt Clock that hangs in New York City. Just as we know that an alcoholic can not drink himself sober, we also know that our government racking up more debt will not make our economy more secure. The numbers on the Debt Clock change faster than the eye can follow. We know the debt is serious, we know our government is bankrupt, but WHEN does our government come to a grinding halt?
ReplyDeleteWell I saw a one hour online broadcast where an attorney/economist, Marc Nuttle from Norman, Oklahoma talks about his formula for plugging in government numbers (spending, debt, GDP) and arriving at a DATE where the U.S. is no longer able to borrow or print money...what he calls hitting the Debt Wall! What date do you think that is? 2021? 2016? Try next year and he'll even tell you the month it will occur if our government continues unchanged on its current course.
Thought you would find this interesting since this man worked under Regan. He is especially calling Christians to Wake Up and pray! His info is sobering and well worth your time. It starts just a little slow then quickly picks up steam and in just a few minutes you will understand why Marc Nuttle is sounding the alarm!!! America as we know it is about to change.
http://www.morningstartv.com/featured-video-week/special-webinar-current-economic-upheaval
That's a great way to illustrate the US tax & debt problem. I remember when President Reagan used to address the nation and use similiar ways of explaining things. Very effective!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Patriot
USA
Didn't know where to put this and didn't know if you had heard: http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/wi-judge-denies-basic-property-rights.htm Check out #5 where the judge decides we don't have a FUNDAMENTAL right to choose the food we produce and consume.
ReplyDeleteLaurie in NC
We are all screwed. If a family was in that situation, they would have no course of action but to file bankruptcy and lose everything. Since countries can't really file for bankruptcy, it's equivalent will be the Weimar Republic. Batten down the hatches if you can afford them!
ReplyDeleteRenee
And they (Congress) spent weeks arguing over the cuts! Arguing over $385.00! These Congress critters are completely out of touch. Lord, help us!
ReplyDelete... I would go into twice that debt if it meant getting my child or mother the health care she needed. I would not spend the money to buy a bigger stick to hurt my neighbor with.
ReplyDeleteExcellent analogy!
ReplyDeleteThe tactic of whacking off eight zeros to make the numbers more manageable and down-to-earth reminds me of a certain guy on Youtube, called "10,000 Pennies" - http://www.youtube.com/10000pennies . His visuals are so good, and really demonstrate the relationships of the numbers with each other.
I posted about his channel on my blog, as well as the difficulty of comprehending numbers as large as we are dealing with in the government. I was very good in math, but when the numbers get that large, they start falling out of my head. That's why I really liked this post likening the tax revenue to household revenue. Very well done. :)
This is why we should vote for Ron Paul. He is the ONLY candidate willing to make SIGNIFICANT cuts that will have any impact, not to mention he seems to be the only one significantly talking about the devaluing of the dollar and our federal reserve crisis. To seriously get our country's budget to "live within its means" means it has to make some serious, major cuts.
ReplyDelete