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Government Debt – Threat to National Security

Once again the federal government has reached its “debt ceiling,” and once again Congress has to authorize an increase in government borrowing. We are borrowing between 1 and 2 billion dollars a day to keep our nation afloat.

We’re at almost $7.5 trillion. The National Debt increases at an average of $1.67 billion per day. The estimated population of the United States is 294,667,496 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $25,266.01.

That’s in addition to the budget deficit, which is at more than $500 billion under the Bush administration. Under Clinton, we had a substantial budget surplus, and we also made big paydowns on the national debt. The savings from one paydown alone would have kept Social Security alive for another 54 years.

Unlike ordinary debts government debts are not repaid by those who spend the money– they’re repaid by you and future generations. The federal government issues U.S. Treasury bonds to finance its deficit spending.

Who are our creditors? Who are our “bankers”? Asian central banks and investors, especially China, have been happy to buy U.S. dollars over the past decade. But now central banks are favoring Euro-denominated assets reflecting their belief that the American economy is headed for trouble.

We are the world’s greatest debtor. Foreign central banks can disrupt our markets by dumping dolloars or refraining from buying. We are dependent, not only on foreign oil, but also on the discretionary acts of foreign political entities. We simply can’t afford to antagonize our creditors. We are beholden, a financial slave.

And all the while, the Bush administration builds an empire on a stack of cards, pulling out the cash for their buddies while they can.

Perhaps it’s not so bad that the american automatic weapons are legal again. We may need them.