Today, we will look at the whole Federal government financial picture, leaning heavily on the recent dismal analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Before we get into today’s discussion of fiscal doom, let’s review the Snoopy analogy we used to start off yesterday’s post since it still applies to the overall government financial malaise:
Many years ago there was a Sunday Snoopy comic that sets up today’s post. Seems Snoopy was going out for job on a cold, dark winter morning. Before long his knees started complaining because they were taking all of the pressure form the jog steps. The feet chimed in to complain that the knees did not know what they were talking about since the feet got the initial shock of each step. Before long the lungs started to complain from sucking in the cold winter air.
This went on for a while, with each body part complaining that they did not want to be out on an early morning winter jog. Finally one of them asks, “Whose idea was this anyway, to go jogging on this early and on this very cold morning?” At that point, the heart spoke up and said: “It was my idea because jogging is good for me and if I go, you all go.”
There are many serious issues facing America today. Failing public schools, a lost war on drugs, a leaky border, inept and lazy politicians, the constant battle for gay rights, etc. these are all important and need to be worked. However, relative to the Snoopy story, these are just body parts that need attention on a cold, dark winter morning relative to the basic fact: the United states Federal government is on a dangerous and fast track to fiscal ruin and collapse.
And if that fiscal and financial integrity collapses, much like the heart, every other issue becomes secondary in face of an economic collapse, a collapse that trashes all of our freedom and liberty. We are going to take a few days to look at how dangerous that track is and how close we are to having a fatal financial heart attack that will make the other body parts, i.e. national issues, wilt in comparison to the dire consequences.
Okay, so from Friday we know that 1) Social Security alone will bankrupt the country if nothing is done and 2) that story of financial doom is likely to be present in other major government spending programs. Today we will prove the second point using the research and analysis of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The specific basis of this discussion is the recently released CBO’s annual Long-Term Budget Outlook. which had some sober news for the American people. The basic bottom line from the report is the following graph:

The gruesome details from the graph include the following:
- Federal debt held by the public almost doubled in the first five and a half years of the Obama administration, rendering his 2008 campaign promise of cutting the annual Federal deficits in half either economic ignorance or another Obama Care-like deception.
- While the debt percentage will level off for a few years, the advancing aging and retirement of the baby boomer generation will cause it to start skyrocketing with the next five to six years.
- At no point in the current trend of Federal government spending is there EVER a budget surplus, a surplus that could be used to start reining in the runaway debt.
- Within 25 years, the public debt will be about five times as large as the annual Federal government tax revenue stream, making any delays in paying down this debt harder and harder to do as time goes by.
- And this is just current public debt. The debt that one part of the government owes to another part of the government will eventually turn into public debt also so this is an underestimation of how bad things are.
- Federal Debt Is Soaring: The debt has doubled since the onset of the financial crisis, and CBO concludes the growth in the debt is “unsustainable.”
- Now Is the Time to Act: CBO says that prompt decisions to rein in future deficits would expand employment and economic growth.
- The Economy Is Slowing Down: CBO has again lowered its projection of GDP growth, and the average number of hours worked by Americans is shrinking.
- Spending Is Still the Problem: Major entitlements and interest on a growing stock of debt will cause real spending to soar by 27 percent over the next two decades.
- Raising Taxes Will Cost Jobs: Taxes will exceed their historic average level this year, and they are on pace to rise even further. Yet these tax increases still never match the pace of spending, even while they discourage work, saving, and investment.
- Entitlement Reform Is Key: We run the risk of breaking our promise to seniors and future generations if we don’t reform our entitlement programs soon.
- The Debt Threatens Our National Security: CBO warns that our growing national debt could compromise national security by constraining defense spending and limiting the country’s ability to prepare for future challenges.
Our total national debt is currently around $18 TRILLION. Unless something changes and the politicians in Washington find some courage, abilities, and creativity to change the trend we are on, almost another $10 TRILLION will be added to that debt load within the next ten years. This will theoretically put a person debt load onto every American of over $100,000 each. Or, the whole financial system collapses before we add another $10 TRILLION and Snoopy and the United States die of a heart attack of epic proportions.
If you care about other issues, then your first action item is to help find a way to convince the politicians and out of control spenders in Washington to grow a pair and start acting fiscally responsible. Otherwise, your favorite causes are just a moot point in our country’s now fiscally endangered history.
A good place to start your efforts to help fix the debt issue is to visit our website for term limits,
Because really, how much worse could new people be in Congress and the White House do if the current ones are running up a debt load that will quite quickly exceed the annual GDP level? These are the same incompetents that got us into this fix, I doubt they are the same that can get us out. And so far, despite the dire warnings of the CBO and other rational Americans, I know of no one in Washington who has put forth any kind of plan to resolve the growing debt bomb in this country, do you?
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
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