Excuse me, but that is total debt, not the publice debt.
Damn!! I knew someone would catch that error.. ;0)
I was thinking about it (honestly, I did!!) after I got off the computer..
But the principle remains the same.. There is no such thing as a Social Security surplus. It's get spent like any other money.. The only difference is that the government owes money to itself as an unfunded liability, rather than to the public debt market which currently stands at about $4.7 Trillion.
But then we enter into the very complex issue of whether reducing the US debt below current levels may have an adverse impact upon the strength of the US dollar, as well as creating a bubble in US debt. It also drastically impacts the Feds ability to add and drain liquidity to the money supply, which it handles by buying and selling T-bills.
Some say that a public debt that is less than 50% of our GNP ($11 Trillion in 2004) causes drastic fluctuations in bond and currency valuations, thus we always need to have a sufficient "float" available so that we don't have major and sharp fluctuations.
As for the economic cost of 9/11, we lost close to a Trillion in Market Cap on the Dow alone as I recall, from approx DOW 9500 to 7300 low later that fall..
And what has made up for some of that economic downturn was the deficit spending required to wage war.
I'd like to mention the recent report card from the 9/11 commission on just how well those security related Federal expenses are improving our security.
I hear ya... I hear ya!! It's taken 50 years to create the bureaucracies that we have, especially in the intelligence arena. It's not going to be fixed overnight.. Too many parochial interests trying to protect their turf.
This is how the Bush Adminitration appreciates the sacrafices made be those in uniform.
You want to see sacrifice?
newshounds.us
msnbc.msn.com
One would realistically think that an amputee's natural reaction would be "I've done my part in this war.. let someone else carry on the fight"...
But no.. Amputees are asking for, and receiving permission to remain on Active Duty, so long as they are able to meet the same standards as other soldiers (and most are in non-combat positions)..
Hell, in a recent Maxim magazine (always a favorite read here.. ;0), there was a story about a yound paratrooper who lost an eye in an explosion. But did he get out? NO!! He stayed in, applied for Ranger School, and graduated near the top of his class (the 1st one-eyed soldier ever to graduate)
So I'm sorry if I don't really understand why this fellow, Mr. Noel can't find a job in an economy that has 5% unemployment. I also don't understand why this soldier didn't save some money since he wasn't paying rent while living in base housing and his income while in Iraq was tax free.
I don't know what his circumstances were, nor the experiences he endured (they didn't give his unit or MOS)..
All I can say is that when an amputee has the gumption to not sit back and be a martyr to his circumstances, Mr. Noel and others like him should count themselves very fortunate.
Hawk |
