WASHINGTON (AP)
Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated). The government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
| Total public debt subject to limit Jan. 22 | 12,245,872 |
| Statutory debt limit | 12,394,000 |
| Total public debt outstanding Jan. 22 | 12,302,465 |
| Operating balance Jan. 22 | 142,454 |
| Interest fiscal year 2008 | 451,154 |
| Deficit fiscal year 2009 | 1,417,121 |
| Deficit fiscal year 2008 | 454,798 |
| Receipts fiscal year 2009 | 2,104,613 |
| Interest fiscal year 2009 | 383,365 |
| Receipts fiscal year 2008 | 2,523,642 |
| Outlays fiscal year 2009 | 3,521,734 |
| Outlays fiscal year 2008 | 2,978,440 |
| Gold assets in September | 11,041 |
[end quote from AP article]
OK, so the federal government, in 2009, took from us in taxes 2.1 trillion dollars.
However, spending was $3.5 trillion. So in one year, 2009, the federal government borrowed 1.4 trillion dollars. This raised the total 'national" debt to $12.3 trillion.
I've heard this means over $100,000 is owed for every taxpayer. This must assume about 123 million taxpayers. I think this may be a little over stated.
It is particularly striking to note that in little more than a generation, we went from a country whose money was backed by gold, to a country with only $11 billion in gold reserves and an annual budget of $3.5 TRILLION dollars.
This is not a sustainable situation. Also, keep in mind the world is in the process of replacing the dollar as its reserve currency. What happens when the dollar is no longer the basis for trading oil? More to the point, what happens when no one in the whole world is interested in dollars?
Are you angry yet?
