usatoday.printthis.clickability.com — The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year ? far more than the official $248 billion deficit ? when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
May 29, 2007 View in Crawl 4
stoutejMay 30, 2007
The government isn't really all that unique in this situation. If you wish, you could conceal liabilities on your books. If it pleases you, you could just renege on the liabilities. If you start getting low on money, you could rob (tax!) someone else or even just print your own money.The problem of course, is that the government would come after you for doing the same things that it feels perfectly justified in doing. But if you had enough guns and enough people convinced that your actions were legitimate, you could get away with it too!
popothebrightMay 30, 2007
You're right about the Amero. It's coming and there is absolutely ZERO way to stop it. The dollar is already toast -- its just a matter of how slow the death is. In another 20 years the US will look a lot like Mexico. A handful of mega rich people, and a s**tload of peasants. This isn't sci fi -- it is 100% guaranteed, etched-in-stone, destiny. We're well on our way right now. The future's baked-in.
williamdyerMay 30, 2007
You nailed it. However, we have also been buying p0rn and liquor on the credit card @ $1000/month for the past 20 years. And just recently we went on a bender in some Bhagdad strip club. That's real money we owe.
afreytMay 30, 2007
They passed the bill, and there were enough GOP that they couldn't override a presidential veto. Now why they bother to introduce a funding bill at all, I don't know. Let the war run out of money, they'll still have enough for an orderly evacuation, if they know that money isn't going to be forthcoming. Harry Reid et al. sold us out in the name of compromise and fear of being accused of endangering the troops. Which is exactly what they did.
amnesia10May 31, 2007
Some of these liabilities are not true liabilities. Medicare liabilities only become apparent when the illness or disability strikes. The same applies to Health insurance, otherwise they would refuse to insure kids because they would state quite rightly that the child would cost X millions in average liabilities over 80 plus years. Some of these liabilities would be very small. A person could be very healthy then drop dead at 80, never having had an illness. That person would be a substantial liability at birth. Health is should be worked on a pay as you go basis.Pensions and Social security are another matter. There it is reasonable to make provision for long term costs.
southsideirishMay 31, 2007
And so forth and Ron Paul will do none of this.How the hell do you think he would fix the problem? More tax breaks? LOLLet's fix big government by creating even bigger government. Hmm...brilliant, why didn't I think of that. If you give government more money, in taxes, do you actually think they will use it to pay down the debt? BS! Social Security is in the mess it is in, because your beloved government took the money and replaced it with IOU's. If they had just put the money into T-Bills then I bet Social Security would never have gone bankrupt. Give the government more money and they will spend more and more and more money.Oh, and wasn't it Janet Reno that said something like, "Why do we have a military if we can't use it." The only thing that will help is to castrate the military, and that ain't going to happen even under Hilary or Obamalamadingdong.
stepnw1fJun 1, 2007
Social Security never went bankrupt. Instead Bush borrowed from it for his f**king war. Social security will be there in the 2050's, and that's if nothing is done now. Social Security is still there, but the GOPers are still trying to kill it. One way is to claim it's already busted or broken, so now it needs fixin'.... bulls**t!Remember this.... a Republican placed us into this debt. Clinton payed down the debt, and Carter was a drop in the bucket when it comes to borrowing. REAGAN, BUSH Sr. and Jr. have just about bankrupted our government/country, enslaving every citizen into indentured servitude all while enriching the wealthy or corporate. Every child born today will owe over $20,000....! Technically, if the government doesn't pay down the debt, America forfeits itself to a wealthy class, whether that be foreign or not.Do folks really want a modern day serfdom, where the wealthy call all the shots, without any say from the average citizen? We are already fascist.... corporations get more representation than "We the People" do. They are right now, running the show while Bush is in office more so than at any other time.We have to get him out, and keep corporations permanently out.
Closed AccountJun 24, 2007
Entitlement is a misleading term, but the best definition of it is: "Right granted by law or contract." If the NeoCons want to cut-off SS & Medicare in the future, then they better plan to send me a refund check for all of the money they've forced me to pay into the programs for decades. A better solution is for some sort of regulating of the costs of medical treatments which are obviously out of control & out of almost everyone's range of affordability. There is no good reason why it is so outrageously expensive.