The National Debt is $10.6 Trillion! Updated 3 December 2008.

Check the debt yourself at the Treasury Department web site, it changes daily. And more details.


Your money is spent through Appropriations Bills passed by Congress and signed by the President. This chart is based on the Appropriations Bills. The Government does not have any money, it takes your money from you and spends that! Press Release on Tax Code and the IRS.

--- "Budget Deficit" vs. "National Debt"---

Suppose you want to spend more money this month than your income. This situation is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow. The amount you borrowed (and now owe) is called your debt. You have to pay interest on your debt. If next month you don't have enough money to cover your spending (another deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loan. If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This situation is known as bankruptcy.

Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations. The total borrowed is more than $9,000,000,000,000 and growing. Even when government officials claim to have a surplus, they still spend more than they get in. We pay interest on that huge debt.

In Fiscal Year 2008, the U. S. Government spent $412 Billion of your money on interest payments* to the holders of the National Debt. Compare that to NASA at $15 Billion, Education at $61 Billion, and Department of Transportation at $56 Billion.

And there is more, check this article about the debt, Where Does the Money Go; and this one about how the debt is growing.

The U. S. Dollar is being replaced by the Euro as the international trade standard. Could our large national debt be part of the reason?

So how do we fix this growing debt problem? Here is one suggested solution. What's your solution? FAQs and Answers on the Balanced Budget Amendment and Article V of the Constitution. And here is an Opposing View (Other opposing views below). And learn more about Article V of the Constitution.

According to Mr. Kneeland, "...all dollars come from the people. Where do [you] think Coca-Cola gets the money to pay its taxes, Exxon gets its money to pay the Exxon Valdez fines, Denny's gets the money to pay its Justice Department fines, or even Microsoft gets the money to defend itself? It all ultimately can come from only one place, and that's from individuals."

"For society as a whole, nothing comes as a 'right' to which we are 'entitled'. Even bare subsistence has to be produced.... The only way anyone can have a right to something that has to be produced is to force someone else to produce it... The more things are provided as rights, the less the recipients have to work and the more the providers have to carry the load." Thomas Sowell, quoted in Forbes and Reader's Digest.

"A politician cannot spend one dime on any spending project without first taking that dime from the person who earned it. So, when a politician votes for a spending bill he is saying that he believes the government should spend that particular dollar rather than the individual who worked for it." Neal Boortz.

"There is no such thing as government money - only taxpayer money." William Weld, quoted in Readers Digest.

The interest expensepaid on the National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget. Only Defense and income redistribution (The Departments of Health and Human Services, HUD, and Agriculture (food stamps)) are higher. Do you have "Compassion" for the lower income earners? (You may note that social spending is the largest item in our federal budget. (Anyone complaining about the run-up of the deficit, should note that almost all of it is going to social spending).

Social Security is not part of the Federal Budget general fund. It is a separate account and has its own source of income. Social Security payments do not go into the general fund, they go in the Social Security trust fund, and should NOT be counted as general revenue. The trust fund is supposed to be used to pay future benefits. But....keep reading....

Currently, there is more being payed into the Social Security Trust Fund than is being paid out to beneficiaries. What's left over is routinely being "borrowed" and used as if it were general budget revenue. Government agencies using that money promise to pay it back (IOUs). All of the money in the Social Security Trust Fund has been spent! That's part of the National Debt. So Social Security is just a very large tax collection tool.

Beware the term "Social Security Surplus"; there is no such thing. Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, there is never more in the Trust Fund than will ever be needed. Another Ponzi link.

Social Security will need to be fixed. Here is a debate page. And here is more information on the Root Problem with Social Security.

The Federal Government doesn't do anything well. It's inefficient, slow, prone to fraud, and ineffective. Why would you trust the Federal Government to take care of you in retirement?

You are a taxpayer, the Government is taking your money from you and spending it. Is your money being spent the way you want it spent? Have you told your Representative, your Senators? Have you considered that the United States has the best Constitution in the world, but that Congress is not paying attention to it? Is there a Constitutional Political Party. Editors note: Actually the Government just makes money whenever it wants to; consider the bailouts of 2008. It does not need income from tax collections to operate. So why have taxation? The tax code is a means to control behavior, it is the epitomy of government power.

Income tax is counterproductive. Learn more about an income tax alternative, the "fair tax" as presented by Americans for Fair Taxation.

What about "corporate welfare"? Are corporations paying their "fair share"? How much tax is hidden in the price when you buy something?

Want to know more about the Federal Budget, the National Debt, Taxation? Visit these great web sites.

* It's true that we have to pay interest on the National Debt. But some citizens own a portion of the national debt, in the form of savings bonds and other government bonds. So some of the interest payment goes to them. You may be one of them. You'd want to keep your interest income coming. But the interest payment is being paid by taxpayers, and you may be one of them also...it's a tangled web.

Income Redistribution: Government takes money that you earned from you, and gives it to someone else. This happens when the tax money you are forced to give to the government is given to others for their use. Examples: Bailouts, and Earned Income Credit. Then, how do you give a tax break to lower scale wage earners that don't pay much income tax? You have to take it from the higher scale wage earners and give it to the lower scale wage earners. Now look at this link. more

The National Debt Awareness Center advocates reduction of the National Debt and replacement of federal income tax with a national retail sales tax.

NDAC does not support any political party. Click here for more information about the National Debt Awareness Campaign.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

The author of this web site is Gene Simmons, Founder, National Debt Awareness Campaign (NDAC). You are authorized to copy and freely distribute the bar chart and the information provided in this web site; just include a reference to this web site. If you want to link your web site, do it. Email the NDAC director. "Information is the Currency of Democracy." - Thomas Jefferson.
 
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