By The Numbers - The Fiscal Cliff That Is The National Debt and Why No Other Issue Matters

We have often warned that the skyrocketing Federal government national  debt is eventually going to crash our economy, our financial stability, and our democracy if the situation is not gotten under control and under control  quickly. Today’s post is going to review the statistics and dangers of the national debt and why the Washington politicians have to take some serious budget actions and reductions soon or the whole house of cards of our financial system and economic stability is going to go over the fiscal cliff.

Some Federal budget statistics in no particular order that should scare the hell out of you:

• If you had spent $1,000,000 a day from the day that Christ was born, you still would not have spent a trillion dollars.

• Spending a million dollars a day over the past two centuries or so would take you to about $750 billion.

• The Federal government national debt is currently about $36 trillion.

• Thus, the current national  debt is about 50 times larger than the amount of money you would have spent if you had spent $1,00,000 a day since Chrisst was born.

• There are about 154,000,000 Federal tax returns filed every year.

• Thus, on average each of those taxpayers would have to pay about $234,000 each to pay off the national debt.

• Given there are about 340 million Americans living in the country today, each man,  woman and child would have to pay out about $106,000 each to pay off the national  debt.

• A family of four then would have to pony up about $424,000 to pay off the  national  debt.

• If you think that “taxing the rich”  more would pay off the debt you are absurdly wrong.

• According to Forbes magazine, as of late 2024, Elon Musk was the richest American with an  estimated wealth of $244 billion.

• Even if you taxed his wealth at 100%, his $244 billion would pay off less than .7% of the national debt, not 7%, .7%.

• If you only took 10% of his wealth you would pay off only .07%.

• If you taxed the wealth of the ten wealthiest people in the country at 100% and applied it against the national debt you would pay off only about 4.3% of the debt.

• If you only took 10% of their wealth, you would pay off only .43% of the national debt.

• And finally, according to Forbes, the total wealth of the 400 wealthiest Americans comes out to about $5.4 trillion, which if you confiscated all of it and applied it to the  national debt, you would pay off less than 15% of the debt.

• Thus, taxing the rich more makes no sense since even if you took ALL of their wealth and applied it to paying down the debt, you would only pay off a very small portion of the $36 trillion on the books.

• Oh, and by the way, this $36 trillion doesn't include the over $80 trillion (source: Congressional  Budget Office) in unfunded government liabilities for  Social Security and Medicare’s budgets that are going to be needed over the next 75 years.

• To  meet those unfunded liabilities, the Federal government would need to collect, on  average, an additional $1.07 trillion a year for 75 years to keep Social Security and  Medicare solvent under the current assumptions and parameters of the programs.

• But in 2024 the Federal government only collected $4.92 trillion in tax revenue which means to cover the additional $1.07 trillion a year it would have to raise taxes by about 22%.

• However, of that $4.92  trillion collected, about $1.107 trillion of that was spent on defense and $1.124 trillion was spent SOLELY to pay the interest on the  national debt (Source: Wall Street Journal  article, February 22, 2025.)

• Thus, about 45% of the Federal  government’s revenue stream was spent on only two budget lines, interest payments on the debt and defense before any other government expense was considered..

• In theory, if the Washington political class had been operating on a balanced budget over time, then there would not be $1.124 trillion being paid out of taxpayer taxes every year to service the national  debt which means that on average, every one of the 154 million taxpayers would have an additional $7,300 in their bank accounts every year, $7,300 that wasn't going to fund interest payments on the ever escalating national debt..

• But the Biden administration spent $6.75 trillion in fiscal 2024, adding a whopping $1.83 trillion to the national debt.

• Thus, in fiscal 2024 the Federal  government under Biden  collected more in taxes than any government entity in the history of mankind and still  overspent it by 37%, indicating he and the rest of Congress never had an intention of getting  Federal spending under control.

• Given the over spending by $1.83 trillion and about 154 million taxpayers, on average each taxpayer would have saved about $11,800 in taxes if Washignton had just spent what it had collected in taxes.

• Since the national debt in 2024 was about $36 trillion and the GDP  of the entire country was about $29 trillion (GDP - value of all  goods and services produced in the  economy in a year), even if every dollar of the GDP was used to pay down the national debt we would still be looking at $7 trillion of debt.

• With the exception of the covid years, the debt to GDP ratio has never been higher, 1.24% in fiscal  2024.

• Going back to the Wall Street Journal article cited above, written by Niall Ferguson, he analyzed the historical relationship between defense spending and national debt/interest payments and concludes that once defense spending falls below debt servicing costs, like it did for the first time for this country in 2024, the decline of all great historic powers begins.

In the face of these  dire statistics and situation, Washington folks have been busy spending billions and billions of dollars on the following nonsense:

• $20 billion for a Sesame Street play in IRAQ.

• $4.5 million to “combat misinformation is Kazakhstan”

• $3.9 million for “LGBT  causes in the western BALKANS

• $6.0 million for tourism in EGYPT

• $2 million to fund sex change operations in GUATEMALA 

• Billions more for similarly inane and corrupt projects

If you are upset because Trump and Musk are shutting down government functions like these listed here but are ignoring the real threat to this country, the national debt and out of control Federal government spending, then you and I have different priorities. And while I respect your right to have a different view and different priorities, I am going to continue to construct my parachute because when the Federal government and the country shortly and  likely go over that fiscal cliff, I want to be ready and not go splat on the fiscal cliff canyon floor.

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If you agree that we need to deseat every member of Congress for their lack of success and accomplishment, then please consider going to the following petition link to help the cause:

https://www.change.org/p/deseat-congress-reset-freedom

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Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

https://www.amazon.com/Love-My-Country-Loathe-Government/dp/1604942789/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=love+my+country%2C+loathe+my+government&qid=1607716020&sr=8-1

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.reason.com

http://www.cato.org

http://www.openthebooks.com

http://www.conventionofstates.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

 

Retro Thanksgiving Day Post From 2012

Note: Given the Thanksgiving holiday this week and the resultant preparations, family visitors, and other commitments, we will be rerunning the top rated and most popular blog posts from the past five years. These posts cover a wide variety of political class insanity, wasteful spending, inane quotes, and other idiocy and are the discussions that most resonated with our readers. We will be back next week with fresh material, starting with our monthly update on "Political Class Insanity."

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2012

A Thanksgiving Wish: Helping Each Other and Undoing The Damage and Hatred That Washington Politicians Have Wrought

I hope that today finds you, your family and your friends healthy and well and hopefully together, sharing this Thanksgiving with each other in the way you see fit. I hope that there is good cheer around your dinner table, lots of laughs, and plenty of food.

However, if you are fortunate enough to be in such a situation, may I suggest that you take a minute out of your Thanksgiving day to think about others that may not be so fortunate as yourselves. As you may or may not know, there are about 12 million Americans who are currently unable to find work and may not be having as wonderful a Thanksgiving as you. 

There are about 23 million Americans who are unemployed or under employed, including many young Americans who are struggling to find a job and establishing a career for themselves.

Every week, hundreds of thousands of Americans find the need to apply for first time unemployment benefits as the economy continues to struggle and economic growth is not enough to provide employment to all those who need it.

News stories have been circulating the past few days on how these hard economic times and high travel costs are keeping families apart this holiday season, something that should never happen in America. 

As you sit down to eat, remember that almost 50 million Americans are eating today, through no fault of their own, only because they are receiving food aid from the Federal government.

May I suggest that as a result of the above economic hardships that you take a little time or a little money, only what you can afford, and make the upcoming Christmas holidays a little easier, a little brighter for these million of fellow citizens. 

Throw some change into the Salvation Army bell ringer on the street corner. Next time you go shopping, buy a few extra things for the local food bank. Or better yet, volunteer your time in whatever way possible. 

Write a check to your favorite charity or buy that gift for the child that may not get one this holiday season. If you see a member of our armed forces waiting in line for a coffee or a lunch, step up up and treat him or her, thanking them for their sacrifices and service.

You see, unless we help each other, it is unlikely the political class will help them. Many of the economic hardships these folks are going through are a direct result of the inability or unwillingness of our Washington politicians to do the right thing. If they were willing or had the ability to do the right thing, 23 million Americans would not be hurting for employment this Thanksgiving day. 

Thus, we need to each individually step forward and help our neighbors, waiting for Washington to do the right thing is a no win proposition. These overpaid, under performing politicians have left us and our neighbors with the following dire economic situation today (data and commentary courtesy of the Bankrupting America website):

This season, we are thankful for our friends, and family, and that we live in a nation that can endure a contentious election and still have peace. (Even if the discussion around your Thanksgiving table is not always so serene.) While we are grateful for the things we have, we are mindful of the work we – especially our federal government – has ahead, especially when it comes to repairing the nation’s balance sheet and economy. To that end, here are the five budget- and economic-related events that we are not thankful for this year:

1) No Budget. Congress failed to pass a budget once again this year. The House passed an outline, but the Senate did not. It looks like this trend could continue: according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is likely to take over the Senate Budget Committee, her panel may not even consider one for next year. Disgraceful.

2) $1 Trillion Deficit. For the fourth year in a row the federal government spent $1 trillion more than it took in. Deficits over the last four years totaled nearly $5.1 trillion.

3) Nearly $16.3 Trillion Debt. As of Nov. 15, the national debt totaled $16.278 trillion, about $142,300 for every household in the country. That figure is nearly triple the average household income in 2011 ($50,054).

4) Overspending, High Unemployment, Low Growth. On average since World War II, federal government spending has totaled 19.8 percent of the economy. In FY 2011, it was 24.1 percent and for FY 2012 it was estimated to come in at 24.3 percent. What have been the results? An unemployment rate of 7.9 percent (average since 1948: 5.8 percent) and a two percent economic growth rate in the third quarter(quarterly average since World War II: 3.1 percent).

5) Coming Fiscal Cliff. After last year’s debt supercommittee failed to agree on a long-term plan to tackle the nation’s persistent deficits, billions of dollars of spending cuts kicked in. Congress is now trying to undo many of these cuts and figure out how to deal with trillions of coming tax increases. Together these policies have led to great uncertainty. 

A Reuters survey found 42 of 50 economists believe there is a significant chance fiscal cliff negotiations would reduce consumer and investor confidence. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal revealed at least 40 of the nation’s top companies are planning to cut capital spending because of fiscal uncertainty. Reduced spending by the private sector, combined with lower confidence from consumers and investors, will eventually result in even higher unemployment and worsening growth.

So yes, be thankful for what you have today, whether it is a job, a healthy family, good friends, the ability to come together, and have enough to eat. But also be thankful if you can help others also get through these tough economic times. Our politicians, the ones who created these tough economic times, are seemingly incapable of doing such a noble deed.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org

http://www.conventionofstates.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

A Thanksgiving Wish: Helping Each Other and Undoing The Damage and Hatred That Washington Politicians Have Wrought

This post orignally ran last Thanksigving to good reviews. Thus, for this Thanksgiving, I thought it appropriate that we run it again, updating the information as deemed necessary by the antics and ineptness of the American political class over the past twelve months. 

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I hope that today finds you, your family and your friends healthy and well and hopefully together, sharing this Thanksgiving with each other in the way you see fit. I hope that there is good cheer around your dinner table, lots of laughs, and plenty of food.

However, if you are fortunate enough to be in such a situation, may I suggest that you take a minute out of your Thanksgiving day to think about others that may not be so fortunate as yourselves. As you may or may not know, there are about 12 million Americans who are currently unable to find work and may not be having as wonderful a Thanksgiving as you.

There are about 23 million Americans who are unemployed or under employed, including many young Americans and receent college graduates who are struggling to find a job and establishing a career for themselves.

Every week, hundreds of thousands of Americans find the need to apply for first time unemployment benefits as the economy continues to struggle and economic growth is not enough to provide employment to all those who need it.

Remember, that we are in the midst of the longest consecutive streak of months where the national unemployment rate has been above 7%. 

As you sit down to eat, remember that almost 50 million Americans are eating today, through no fault of their own, only becuase they are receiving food aid from the Federal government.

May I suggest that as a result of the above economic hardships that you take a little time or a little money, only what you can afford, and make the upcoming Christmas holidays a little easier, a little brighter for these million of fellow citizens.

Throw some change into the Salvation Army bell ringer on the street corner. Next time you go shopping, buy a few extra items for the local food bank. Or better yet, volunteer your time in whatever way possible.

Write a check to your favorite charity or buy that gift for the child that may not get one this holiday season. If you see a member of our armed forces waiting in line for a coffee or a lunch, step up up and treat him or her, thanking them for their sacrifices and service.

You see, unless we help each other, it is unlikely the political class will help them. Many of the economic hardships these folks are going through are a direct result of the inability or unwillingness of our Washington politicians to do the right thing. If they were willing or had the ability to do the right thing, 23 million Americans would not be hurting for employment this Thanksgiving day.

Thus, we need to each individually step forward and help our neighbors, waiting for Washington to do the right thing is a no win proposition. These overpaid, under performing politicians have left us and our neighbors with the following dire economic situation today (data and commentary courtesy of the Bankrupting America website in November, 2012, updated for current realities):

This season, we are thankful for our friends, and family, and that we live in a nation that can endure a contentious election and still have peace. (Even if the discussion around your Thanksgiving table is not always so serene.) While we are grateful for the things we have, we are mindful of the work we – especially our federal government – has ahead, especially when it comes to repairing the nation’s balance sheet and economy. To that end, here are the five budget- and economic-related events that we are not thankful for this year:

1) No Budget. Congress failed to pass a budget once again this year. In fact, since the Democrats took over Congress back in 2009, the U.S. Federal government has been operating without a formal budget process or actual budget, facilitating the massive wasteful and inefficient spending of taxpayer wealth. Disgraceful.

2) Another Massive Annual Deficit. For the fifth year in a row the federal government spent at least $600 billion more than it took in. Deficits over the last five years totaled nearly $5.7 trillion.

3)  $17 Trillion National Debt.The national debt is now about $17 trillion, about $150,000 for every household in the country. That figure is about triple the average household income.

4) Overspending, High Unemployment, Low Growth. On average since World War II, federal government spending has totaled 19.8% of the economy. In FY 2011, it was 24.1% and for FY 2012 it was estimated to come in at 24.3%. What have been the results? An unemployment rate of over 7% (average since 1948: 5.8%) and a two percent or less economic growth rate (average since World War II: 3.1%).

5) Another Fiscal Cliff. Senate and House members are supposedly negotiating for a real budget by the time the current debt limit extension is reached again in early 2014. Odds are they will fumble their way through this crisis again, like they have fumbled their way thorugh every other budget crisis in recent memory, embarassing the nation again and stifling economic growth again.

So yes, be thankful for what you have today, whether it is a job, a healthy family, good friends, the ability to come together, and have enough to eat. But also be thankful if you can help others also get through these tough economic times. Our politicians, the ones who created these tough economic times, are seemingly incapable of doing such a noble deed.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now:http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Political Class Insanity, Part 1, February, 2013: Politicians That Cannot Budget Or Save, Luxurious Government Bathrooms and More

At the beginning of every month we review the insanity, idiocy, and follies that the political class has dumped on us over the previous month of so. Last month seems like the whole month of posts was dedicated to political class insanity as we did extensive reviews of the idiocy of Obama Care and the fumbling, grandstanding, and politicizing of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

However, today and for a few days after today, we will be reviewing just plain old, simple incompetence of the political class, the never ending stream of insults and wasting of taxpayer wealth that we get hit with every month from our current set of politicians.

1) Our first example this month actually happened in 2007 but has just come to light. ABC News Reported the following story and facts on January 16, 2013:

• In 2007, the personal bathroom used by the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, was remodeled.
• The renovation cost an amazing $222,000. One bathroom, one Cabinet level Secretary. I would bet that the average cost of an American home on the market today costs less than $222,000.
• The renovated bathroom has a $3,500 sub-zero refrigerator. Yes, the need for a high end refrigerator in one’s bathroom cannot be underestimated.
• According to the story, one faucet cost $689, which implies there were more than one faucet and more than one sink in the Secretary’s personal bathroom.
• The toilet paper holder cost “only” $65.
• It took the ABC News affiliate in Atlanta four full years to get the details of a single bathroom remodeling costs under a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request. Four years, one bathroom, talk about government inefficiency or more likely, a cover up due to the embarrassment of spending so much on a single bathroom remodel.
• This disgraceful waste of taxpayer wealth was uncovered by an audit done by the General Accounting Administration who appears to have a gift for the understatement: “A number of the items incorporated into the renovation project call into question the need for luxurious materials.”

You think? $222,000 to remodel a single, personal bathroom with faucets that cost over $600 each and a $65 toilet paper holder? It really is looking like we have an elitist set of people working and living in the D.C. area who think they deserve this kind of special treatment at our expense. A real “let them eat cake” moment from the Washington political class.

2) There are many, many reasons why the nation and its citizens are facing a massive $16.4 TRILLION national debt. Government programs are inefficient, ineffective, redundant, and many infested with massive criminal fraud. Old programs never die, they just get refunded every year even if their purpose for existing is no longer needed. The Democratically controlled Senate has not passed a formal budget since April, 2009, making coherent and rational spending decisions and tradeoffs next to impossible.

To this lurid mix of incompetence we can add in the inability of the Obama administration to hit the legal and required budget deadlines that every President before him has been able to meet:

• Obama’s current budget proposal to Congress might not be passed over to Congress until March, a full month past the legal deadline of the first Monday in February (February 4 this year).
• This extends an abysmal track record of Obama’s fourth late budget submission in five years.
• He is now the first President to present three consecutive late budgets.
• Obama already is the first President to deliver three of his budgets late in just one term and the first to submit budgets late two years in a row.
• He also holds the record for the latest delayed budget submission: 98 days.
• According to the House Budget Committee, since enactment of the 1921 Budget and Accounting Act, which created the formal executive budget process: “All Presidents from Harding to Reagan’s first term met the statutory budget submission deadline in every year.”
• Even during World War II and the Korean war, the President’s budget reached Congress on time.
• With the Obama administration, meeting fiscal deadlines is an anomaly.
• Obama has also never submitted a Mid-Session Review by July 16, as required by law.

When laws get broken by ordinary citizens there are consequences. When laws get broken by Presidential administrations there are no ramifications, except for the fact that without timely and effective budgets, government spending goes wild and current and future generations are faced with incredibly burdensome national debt loads. Dereliction of Presidential duties is too mild a term for this atrocity.

3) CBS News in Detroit reported on November 28, 2013 that a Michigan state senator has proposed that an option for the future of Detroit might be dissolving the city outright and letting neighboring communities pick up parts of the Detroit real estate and govern it as if it was their own. The financial and governing environment has gotten so bad that some people actually think killing off the city is the best solution. And they may be right.

Think about the magnitude of this position, a position that is not so far fetched. Detroit was once one of the largest cities in the U.S. It had a thriving economy and a large middle class population, mostly as a result of the auto industry. It was a major, major manufacturing center for the country.

Now, it is a vast wasteland with abandoned homes, whole neighborhoods that were abandoned and their structures razed to hinder the crime that the empty buildings harbored. There is effectively no middle class left in the city. The city government and the officials/politicians that have operated it either did a bad job, went to jail for crimes committed while in office, or both. And no political person, political party, or political solution has been able to resurrect what was once a thriving metro area.

The only political solution that might make sense is to just dissolve the city and make it go away, as if it never happened. So sad, another disgraceful performance from a political class that can spend and waste but cannot budget and grow the benefits for ordinary citizens.

4) The Americans For Prosperity website had a post on January 9, 2013 that documented just SOME of the special spending tidbits that our gutless political class had embedded in the fiscal cliff deal that was signed on January 2, 2013. This deal increased the tax burden on almost 80% of Americans starting immediately.

Think about that fact when reviewing the additional spending that Washington politicians approved for their crony and political donor friends, at all of our expense:

1. Tax credit for wind farms (Section 407) Cost: $12.2 billion. Description: Extends the wind production tax credit, also offering the credit to those wind farms at the beginning of energy projects instead of at completion.
2. Active financing exception for Wall Street (Section 322) Cost: $9 billion per year. Description: Multinational corporations can use this exception to avoid paying some taxes by creating certain overseas entities, a mechanism known as active financing.
3. New Goldman Sachs offices (Section 328) Cost: $1.5 billion. Description: Initially established to provide tax-exempt financing for rebuilding the World Trade Center area, this provision partially went to fund Goldman Sachs offices. It has been extended.
4. Whirlpool Corporation tax credit (Section 409) Cost: $650 million. Description: For producing energy-efficient appliances, Whirlpool receives an extended $650 million tax credit (not nearly as much as the $1.8 billion extended to financial institutions for investing in “low-income areas”).
5. Extended rum tax (Section 329) Cost: $220 million; $547 million in 2009. Description: Funnels the revenue of the excise tax on rum to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, subsidizing their rum industries.
6. Incentives for taking public transportation to work (Section 203) Cost: $220 million. Description: As part of an incentive to have people take public transportation, benefits have been set to an equal level with those for driving. Now employers can cover the same amount toward commuting expenses tax-free whether workers take public transit or drive.
7. Railroad repair (Section 306) Cost: $165 million per year. Description: Railroads can claim tax credits for performing maintenance.
8. Hollywood subsidies (Section 317) Cost: $75 million per year. Description: Provides producers with deductions of $15-20 million for filming in the United States, especially in low-income areas.
9. Help grow algae (Section 404) Cost: $59 million. Description: Algae growers receive tax credits in their quest to turn algae into a biofuel source.
10. NASCAR racetracks (Section 312) Cost: $43 million over the past two years. Description: Tax benefits for racetracks in order to supposedly even competition with “other amusement parks.”
11. Mine safety (Section 307 and 316) Cost: $14 million. Description: Encourages implementation of common sense safety measures by mining companies.
12. Electric scooters (Section 403) Cost: $4-7 million. Description: Electric vehicle tax credits extended to include electric motorbikes.
13. Indian coal: alternative energy? (Section 406) Cost: $1 million. More specifically, Section 406 subsidizes by $2 per ton coal produced on Indian lands.

Let’s see: raise taxes on almost 80% of all Americans and turn right around and give tax breaks of over $15 billion right back to your political friends. As we have said many times in the past, these people are shameless.

5) The Washington Guardian posted a Pentagon related article on its website on January 10, 2013 that discussed two interesting situations. First, the U.S. Navy had decided to retire seven of its battle cruisers from service. In the opinion of the Navy’s experts, these ships were no longer needed for national defense and to upgrade them would unnecessarily cost billions and billions of dollars.

Wow, a part of the Federal government actually trying to do the right thing and be efficient, saving taxpayer wealth in the process. Certainly something you do not see everyday. But it turned out to be too good to be true.

Congress stepped in and prohibited the Navy from decommissioning the ships that it said were no longer needed. Congressional members quoted in the article said they felt that losing these seven, almost obsolete ships would endanger our national defense.

This might be true but who would you believe first, the professionals in the Navy who felt the ships were not needed and wanted to save some taxpayer wealth ($259 billion over five years) or the politicians in Congress that want to protect jobs back in their states and districts, even if those jobs were useless, or who wanted to keep their defense contractor political backers happy? I would vote for the admirals every time.

The second situation is of a broader scope but reinforces the notion that politicians do not want to get spending under control or do not know how to get spending under control. According to the Guardian: “The Defense Department requested $613.9 billion for fiscal year 2013 - almost $32 billion less than it received last year. Instead, lawmakers sent the Pentagon roughly $633 billion for 2013, still less than the agency received last year but $20 billion above what Pentagon leaders had requested.”

Who does not think that the additional funding set aside for the Defense Department, money it said it did not need, was purely for earmarks for favored political cronies and backers of the Washington politicians?

By the way, in light of the Newtown school shooting, that additional $20 billion that the Defense Department said it does not need or want could staff a trained and armed police officer in every U.S. school for almost three years. You decide what the better priority is, unneeded military expenditures or protecting our kids.

That’s it for now, the insanity out of Washington just keeps on coming. And more will come over the next few days.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w