The National Debt Crisis

Yesterday, President Obama called for a return to “pay-as-you-go” budget rules (“PayGo” for short.)  Here’s how PayGo is supposed to work in theory.  Every new dollar of government spending is offset by an equal decrease in spending elsewhere in the budget.  Or, alternatively, every dollar of increased spending can be offset by a dollar of new taxes.  It works the same way on the tax cutting side, too.  Every dollar in tax cuts must be offset by an equal cut in spending.

On paper, it sounds like a pretty good idea.  Here’s the problem, though.  Read the rest of this entry »

The history of the national debt goes back to the earliest days of our history as a nation.  In fact, the United States has had a national debt virtually every year of its existence as a nation.  Not long after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the national debt was reported as $75 million.  This initial debt was incurred during the Revolutionary War and under the Articles of Confederation, which was the nation’s governing document prior to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.  The national debt was briefly eliminated in 1835 under President Andrew Jackson, but it quickly grew into the millions again.

The first dramatic increase in the national debt Read the rest of this entry »

The National Debt Clock is the name given to devices that provide an “up-to-the-second” running tally of the National Debt of the United States Government.  Below is an example of The National Debt Clock, showing the United States National Debt as of this very moment.

If you’re not used to seeing numbers that big, you’re not alone.  The National Debt Read the rest of this entry »