How will the American Government Ever Pay Down a 8.4 Trillion Dollar Debt?

Question

The National Debt has increased by 1.95 billion dollars a day since September, 2005.
The National Debt has increased by 2.8 Trillion Dollars since the Bush Administration took power 6 years ago.

Answer 1

what's even more amazing is that people like captainobnoxious don't even treat this as a serious question. It is serious and it is a huge problem that could someday haunt this country in ways we don't even want to think about.

Republicans think it is sustainable. Who in their right minds can tell you that going into debt at a rate of 1.95 billion a day is sustainable. Denial and lots of kool aid will get you there.

Answer 2

Very simply...We won't. Carrying debt doesn't necessarily hurt. Now, we have a lot of debt, this is true, but look at the size of the government. Didn't you people ever take economics or is this just a political issue for you?
Yes the last President to balance the budget was Bill Clinton, and he actually ran a surplus, but did you ever stop to consider how that might have been done? The capital gains taxes alone the government was pulling in from 1996-2000, the dot com boom as it were, was more than they had ever been, before or since. Also, we were in an economic boom, now I know that George Bush did not lead to a recession, contrary to what many lefties want to believe, because the economy was already going down at the end of Clinton's term. Also, the only man on the planet that can cause a recession is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. But he cannot stop it if is already going to happen.
Now we are in a war, like it or not, it has a major impact on the economy, in a good way actually because government contracts go way up. And what happens when government contracts go up, government spending goes up. Its happened in every war every since there were economies. The basic point I'm getting at is that the economy is not regulated by the man sitting in the White House, he does not cause recessions and he certainly isn't responsible for booms either. Quit making the debt a political issue because it is not. Tax cuts and all that are a good way to try an relieve a recession, but they don't always work. Sometimes you just have to ride out the bad times because you are smart enough to know that good times will be on their way again soon. Thank you and have a nice day.

Answer 3

8.4 trillion dollars definitely seem like a lot of money, but there are two things that have to be considered when measuring the actual debt. The first is the time value of money, the actual value of money decreases each year at the rate of inflation, on average this is 3 percent. This basically means that for every year of time that passes, each dollar is only worth on average 97% of what it was worth the previous year. So, $100 dollars in 1966 had the same buying power as $335 does today. So, just because the raw dollar amount is higher today than 10 or 20 years ago is not only meaningless, but should be excepted, unless spending is cut or revenue increased.

The second and most important thing to consider is the National debt as a percentage of GDP, Gross Domestic Product. GDP is essentially the size or wealth of a given economy. At the end of 2005, the National Debt as a percentage of GDP was 64.7%, which is high, but not as high as it was at its height during the Clinton Administration. And no where near its all time high of over 120%, which was during the 1940s when all of the social programs started by FDR and WWII debt pushed this percentage to new heights.

By taking these facts into consideration, the National Debt is clearly NOT out of control.

Answer 4

Good question, and one that needs to be addressed like yesterday, except the people we put in office to deal with things like this do exactly the opposite, which is nothing, just the interest on a number like that is staggering, think of what we could do with just the interest never mind the principal. We need eliminate congressional pork spending, I know that's that's a small part of the overall number but it's stuff like that going on unchecked for decades and that accelerated considerably since the Republicans were in office (30%) more that's what got us into this mess in the first place. We are going to have to tighten our belts for a few years and make getting out from under this a priority or we and especially our kids are going to be in serious trouble, I don't care what some head in the clouds economist says.

Answer 5

basic math for @invoice. Please, stick to alongside with certainty: shall we TAX All individuals entire earnings (one hundred% of what they earn) that make OVER $2 hundred,000 in 2012, and nevertheless be $383 BILLION money in Deficit on the FY 2013 budget provided by using Mr. Obama. "raising Taxes" isn't the respond, no longer in accordance with ideals, yet in accordance with NUMBERS. ok, now scream approximately companies: They paid a sprint over $one hundred Billion, so we would desire to extra desirable than Triple the quantity they paid final 12 months, only to interrupt even for 2013 on my own. Oh, and then there is the certainty we are no longer Shorting Social risk-free practices have confidence Fund by using over $one hundred Billion returned this 12 months, which will would desire to be paid via common gross sales interior the destiny. So, Taxing is obviously no longer the answer. definite, some, regardless of the undeniable fact that that's Spending and Cuts which will shop us. the two a sprint Now, or plenty Later (ie, Greece) you opt for.

Answer 6

Getting rid (from power) of fools like Dictator Dumbya, stopping the Big Lie Iraqi Crusade, and letting the estate tax holiday expire would be good first steps. Down with Dictator Dumbya!!!

Answer 7

Easy answer..us government should fake another depression which will allow american government to raise the value of the american dollar thus lowering the dollar value over seas then pay back debt acording to our debt since the dollar value change

Answer 8

Sell Florida?

Answer 9

Once we're out of Iraq the debt will start going down again.

Answer 10

sale United States to China and Saudia Arabia...