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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JakeStraw who wrote (473515)	10/9/2003 10:47:38 AM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Wal-Mart sales are up because the government borrowed more money and sent some of it to the consumers in the form of a child tax credit. It's a one time thing.

To: JakeStraw who wrote (473515)	10/9/2003 1:36:43 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

- Yesterday we learned that in August, American consumers borrowed their way to 20% of the nation's GDP on an annualized basis. That tune will surely rise to the top of the charts... but it may never reach #1. For today comes word from the Treasury Department that through the second quarter of 2003, U.S. "gross external debt" topped $6 trillion dollars. That's sure to be a chart-buster. - The Treasury report, which, according to Reuters, was issued in an attempt to comply with new 'transparency' rules established by the IMF, shows that the U.S. government now owes nearly 59% of the nation's GDP to foreign governments, central banks, private banks and other investors. In the next three months alone, $1.2 trillion in principal, and another 53 billion in interest, will come due. With tax receipts of only $2 trillion per annum... argh... why bother? Don't they distribute calculators among the pocket-protected policy wonks in Washington? - Better yet, how do you suppose John Snow gets any sleep at night? As we have made abundantly clear, most of America is juggling debt payments: mortgages, car loans, skyrocketing tuitions, credit card debt etc., etc., etc. But what must it be like to have to come up with $1.2 trillion in principal in the next three months? Come to think of it, John Snow must sleep well at night, after all - it's not his money! ...from the Daily Reckoning.