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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Noel de Leon who wrote (140743)	7/17/2004 11:21:12 AM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

BS, entitlements are killing us, what is it 70-80% of the budget is entitlements? We are what 6 Trillion in debt, all that occured in just the last three years? Yeah right

To: Noel de Leon who wrote (140743)	7/17/2004 11:51:40 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 281500

The relevant figure for the calculation of debt burden is not dollars, even inflation adjusted, but percentage of GDP, because it is more relevant to our ability to carry the debt: The national debt is the total amount owed by the U.S. government ($5.5 trillion in 2000—$20,000 for each American), payable to owners of Treasury bonds, 87 percent of them Americans. The deficit is the federal budgetary shortfall added to the national debt each year. In 1998, President Clinton sent the first balanced budget to Congress in 30 years, thanks to a strong economy. The debt as a percentage of GDP was at its highest (over 100 percent of GDP) in 1945, due to the costs of WWII. The current national debt is equal to about 55 percent of GDP. wps.prenhall.com The relevant figure for the debt burden as it impacts on the federal budget is percentage of budget dedicated to the paying of interest (the principal is floated): Interest on the national debt, which is now 5.5 trillion dollars, has risen to 10 percent of federal spending. wps.prenhall.com Clearly, debt is within historically manageable proportions.