Who would have thought that we might ever miss Ross Perot? Squawking at us with his graphs and pie charts about the dangers of deficit spending and the mounting national debt, Perot was especially outraged that the debt had gone from $1 trillion in 1980 to $4 trillion by 1992. He got people’s attention about mortgaging our children’s futures and… return to article
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Reader Comments (10)Page 1 of 1 pagesGood question; why isn’t the national debt a topic of discussion on the campaign trail? Maybe because its too damn depressing. I feel like slashing my wrist at the thought of $31K personal debt, especially with interest added. I filed chapter 7 in 1988 for $7K of unsecured debt but have kept my nose clean since then, but if the country files bankruptcy a judge can’t tell our creditors to just eat it. America is headed for liquidation, receivership, garnishment, judgements and liens of and on public assets. Meet the repo man and welcome to the U S of Asia.
Posted by theloneous on Mar 25, 2008 at 9:20 AM This is why the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office recently resigned, so he can focus on more (less partisan) ways to get this message out. He’s been sounding the alarms for years now, but no one has been listening.
Posted by Moose on Mar 25, 2008 at 11:29 AM “But even the crippling human and financial costs of the Iraq War have taken a back seat in presidential politics to “the economy”—as if the two are different subjects. They aren’t, and the Democrats, especially those running for Congress, should make this, and the Bush debt, their mantra.”
Hey, where have you been? We’ve been heading down this path for a long time. The 1970s should have been an eye-opener.
The only thing Perot had wrong was the sound effect — it’s been a slow hiiiisssss rather than a “Giant Sucking Sound.” I voted for him then because he was the only one with the brains (overlook the hair cut) and the honesty to tell it like it was. The Democrats are at least as responsible for the state of our economy as anyone.
This didn’t originate with the Bush administration. It started long before and will continue as long as Americans are willing to accept what the financial “Experts” feed us. The current Fed action is killing the dollar and inflation is far higher than admitted.
Government job data, inflation numbers, GDP — all are skewed to look better than reality. Yet people go merrily along borrowing and buying even when prices are telling them just how bad it real is. Today my car insurance went up 8.5% over last year. The car is a year older, the value has dived due to a saturated market, but the premium jumped — that is real life folks.
Perot got to be a rich man by thinking for himself. Today another very wealthy american was on CNBC saying we cannot afford to keep using all this foreign energy. He gave an astronomical figure — “...more than double the war expense” — in dollars we are sending out of the country for oil.
As Moose wrote David Walker, Comptroller General just resigned in disgust because his warnings were totally ignored. I’ve heard him twice on C-SPAN in the past year — not a pretty picture.
Where is the outrage at the scamming by D.C. and Wall St.?
Posted by whattheheck on Mar 25, 2008 at 3:10 PM Socialists say the damnedest things.
You know, of course, that LBJ’s welfare program in the Great Society cost $6 trillion, and the only result was the near total destruction of Black family life in the United States. Destruction of families and morality are principles of Marxism, and it worked just as you planned. So what are you bitching about now?
Posted by scorp on Mar 27, 2008 at 10:14 PM Dear scorp.Watchu talkin ‘bout ! The black families that I know are doing kinda ok.They are working hard,for the most part and would do better if the husbands(sperm donors) would get a job and help to raise the kids.Religion,hard work,and family are what black people are all about and they are strong today.
Lack of jobs and money plague all of us blue collar workers today.Wether we be black or white or brown or yellow.Our jobs have been off-shored,our politicians are corrupt(democrats and republicans),Big Business is choking the working class,and our president is killing us,literally!We don’t live in a Marxist society.We live in an Oligarchy.If it weren’t for computer e-mails,blogs,and chats.We would have no voice at all,and “they” want to take that away from us and/or spy on what we say there.You do know,or maybe not,that there are interrment camps already in place in this country don’t you scorp.It is hard to find this out and only very seldom does it come out,but those camps are for protestors of government actions.The treasonous working class.Blackwater is not only in Iraq.It(blackwater) was used in New Orleans after Katrina.They(blackwater) are just honing their skills in Iraq for when they are needed in the U.S..Maybe I sound like some kind of wild eyed radical to you,but do yourself a favor and research and look around for the evidence.I am 60 years old and actually have a fear of my government.Something that I NEVER thought I would ever feel in this country.
Posted by eddiemyboy1 on Mar 28, 2008 at 9:55 AM eddiemyboy,
Where are these internment camps? Who is in them?
The only fear I have of our government surfaces whenever they offer help.
Posted by whattheheck on Mar 29, 2008 at 1:14 PM The true National Debt (promised and owed) is a staggering $55 Trillion!
See for yourself:
http://www.truthin2008.org
(this is a non-partisan site)
---
http://randomnewsandanalysis.blogspot.com/
Posted by RandomNewsAndAnalysis on Mar 29, 2008 at 9:06 PM If things get too bad, simply pack up and move to a new country. I did many years ago and don`t regret it one bit. After eight years of George W. Bush and his gang, I don`t really feel much of an urge to visit, for that matter.
Perhaps a long recession is what the U.S. needs. Get people to start using their brains about how to manage their finances, for starters. Washington sure as hell doesn`t provide an example that Joe Taxpayer should emulate. Nine trillion dollars+ of national debt and it is ballooning by the day. I guess most Americans don`t care who owns it as long as they can continue their irresponsible ways.
The great majority of the people can`t even do simple things like manage their credit cards. And now Americans are paying gas prices similar to what many other people around the world always pay and woe is me, says the masses. Try walking and/or cycling off some of the fat instead of driving so much, pinheads.
The subprime loan mess, the Iraq War, violent crime at home, tens of millions without any form of health care insurance, unaffordable health care for who knows how many more, a government and a people who all too often turn a blind eye to environmental problems that so much of the rest of the world greatly cares about, a rinky-dink electoral system which will very likely rear its ugly head again this year....
If things get too bad, there`s always somewhere else on this planet to live. Enjoy the post-George W. Bush meltdown, fellow Americans!
Posted by patrick hattman on Mar 30, 2008 at 10:05 AM Patrick Hattman,
I guess you figured you couldn’t change things here so you left. Do you feel you have anymore say in the way things are run in Japan?
I t looks to me like this latest financial mess is global. Since they have virtually no natural resources what will you do if commodities continue to rise producing ever increasing inflation there?
Do you still have relatives back here in the states? I could not have left my parents and hope my kids don’t leave.
Posted by whattheheck on Apr 1, 2008 at 1:55 PM whattheheck,
Thanks for the questions and sorry for the late response.
I left the U.S. because I simply like to move around and experience new things. I guess this is why I also served in the Navy. Life here interests me because there is always something new I can learn and do.
You are right. This is a global mess. And what happens in the U.S. most definitely has serious repercussions for Japan`s economic future. Considering the fact that Japan has the highest ratio of debt-to-GDP among industrialized nations-if memory serves me correctly-Japan`s economic outlook is rather bleak for the short-term. Throw in the aging population, low birth-rate, and miniscule immigration, and this country has quite a number of long-term problems.
You are right about the lack of natural resources in Japan, and territorial problems with China and Korea about EEZs, and the dispute between Russia and Japan over the Kurile Islands since the end of WWII makes the situation even more dire for Japan. They have to use the bilateral relationship with the U.S. to ensure their energy needs.
Gas prices are sky-high in Japan, and food prices have been going out of sight in the past few months.
Japan has its negatives, but it also has its good points, too. Personal safety, efficient public transportation, a national health care system(has its problems, to be sure), generally better service at all levels of the retail sector, better food; there`s quite a number of things.
Do I think that I have more “say” in things here as compared to the U.S.? No, I don`t. I don`t expect to.
But at the same time, the American people put George W. Bush in office(perhaps debatable the first time) and kept him there. I think the American people are getting their just desserts, so to speak. What have the people done to stop the wasteful spending on the Iraq War, for example? Or how about simply trying to stop the loss of life there? People bought into this nonsense that hundreds of billions could be spent on an unnecessary war, tax cuts to go around, and everything would keep functioning smoothly. I`m sorry, but I don`t feel much sympathy for many Americans crying poverty right now. Try learning to balance a checkbook, or how to use a credit card properly. Stupid is as stupid does.
I don`t know what the best course for the U.S. is post-Dubya. But what I do know is that issues like the $9 trillion national debt will not go away anytime soon. And unless Americans wake up and start using their brains about financial matters from top to bottom, things will most definitely get worse before they improve.
Posted by patrick hattman on Apr 6, 2008 at 5:26 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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