Venango County Tea Party Patriots

A non-partisan, non-profit, non-member, association dedicated to educating the public and promoting the principles of fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free market economics, and all other lawful activities.

federal debt

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CBO Says Financial Crisis Likely

The Congressional Budget Office released its 2013 long-term budget outlook on Tuesday, stating that “a large and continually growing federal debt …would increase the probability of a fiscal crisis for the United States.”

The report says under current laws and policies, the federal debt could reach 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2038.

It also projects that the federal government’s health care spending “will grow considerably in 2014 because of changes made by the Affordable Care Act.”

CBO says federal debt held by the public is now about 73 percent of the economy’s annual output, or gross domestic product. “That percentage is higher than at any point in U.S. history except a brief period around World War II, and it is twice the percentage at the end of 2007,” the report said.

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Michele Bachmann – How Can Debt Remain at Same Level for Months?

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Wednesday night said the Treasury Department is lying to Americans about the size of the federal debt since it has not changed significantly for the last few months even though the government continues to borrow.

Bachmann cited a report from this week saying the size of the debt has not changed since mid-May.

“That would be called a lie in our house. That is not acceptable to my husband and I. You don’t lie to us,” Bachmann said on the House floor.

“One thing that the federal government should never do to the people who pay the bills in this country is lie to them. And it seems to me that that’s what this number is. For 56 days they’re pretending that we aren’t adding any debt?”

The report Bachmann cited said the size of the debt has not changed at all for 56 days, and has been stuck on $16.699 trillion, just $25 million short of the debt ceiling.

But according to TreasuryDirect.gov, the debt has hovered around $16.738 trillion since May, and has made small movements around that number each day.

Bachmann said she asked Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke today how the debt can remain still despite continued U.S. government borrowing.

“Even though he’s been the Federal Reserve chair for 10 years, he had no idea how that can happen,” she said. “In fact, he didn’t even know that it had happened.

“Part of the reason that he speculated is that perhaps the Treasury used what they call their ‘extraordinary means’ to be able to deal with the debt ceiling,” she added. Treasury has in fact said it is able to manage the government’s finances through the fall before it will need to exceed the debt ceiling.

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During Obama’s First Term Debt Increases $5.8 Trillion

During Barack Obama’s first term as president of the United States, the debt of the federal government increased by $5.8 trillion, which exceeds the combined debt accumulated under all presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton.

The new federal debt accumulated in Obama’s first term equaled approximately $50,521 for each of household in the country.

On Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was first inaugurated, the total debt of the federal government was $10,626,877,048,913.08, according to the U.S. Treasury. As of the close of business on Jan. 17, the last day reported by the Treasury before Obama’s second inauguration, the total debt of the federal government was $16,432,631,489,854.70.

Thus, from Obama’s first inauguration to his second, the federal government’s debt grew by $5,805,754,440,941.62.

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