What is the National Debt now, will our country ever see a surplus again?
542217
we havent seen a surplus since 1830s. the 'surplus' during clinton was a hoax. he bailed out mexico by having greenspan print up $3.8 billion bounced it off the roof of the treasury into chase manhatten. then bush bought us all off with it at the beginning of his 1st term. right ow the debt is $8,363,454,225,996.54 The estimated population of the United States is 298,676,548 so each citizen's share of this debt is $28,001.71. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.95 billion per day since September 30, 2005! Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House! http://www.eff.org/congress/
451097
The Debt of the US\nhttp://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/
356771
Currently the US is borrowing from China and Japan.  Saudi Arabia has a fair share as well.  But I think most of the debt is privately held in bonds.\n\nIf you want to dig up a complete list, you might try to look at the federal reserve's website.\n\nhttp://www.federalreserve.gov/\n\nI cant guarantee you will find anything, but there is a very large amount of information there that most people choose to ignore.
920113
Worse yet...its a lie.  By "cutting taxes" but participating in wreckless spending, the national defiict is 9 trillion and climbing. Who is going to pay this debt? By Bush's deficit spending folly, entirely supported by dittohead Republicans in congress, we are guaranteed to have to raise taxes to repay the debts accumulated.  Of course, when that happens, the republicans will blame Dems for "taxing"...and the beat goes on...
922152
You said you wanted serious answers, so I'll take you at your word. It's not nearly as bad as you think. Cheer up.\n\nYes, America owes trillions. But please remember three points:\n\n1. The vast majority of that debt is not owed to foreign nations. Over two-thirds of it is owed to the American people themselves. Everyone American who purchases US Savings Bonds or Treasury Bonds (T-Bills) is purchasing a portion of that debt.\n\n2. The American economy is worth approximately 3 trillion dollars a year. That means the US has about a two-to-one debt ratio. Putting that in micro-economic terms, it's the equivalent of someone who brings in 100k a year, and whose only debt is a 200k mortgage. Any economist would tell you that that person is doing very well indeed. Most people's debt ratio is far higher.\n\n3. The US has the lowest debt ratio of any industrialized country. No other country in europe or anyplace else has that little debt relative to the size of its economy.\n\nAs to your comments about the cost of the war. Yes, for now it's not cheap. But this is not a permanent expense. In a few years it will go away. So in the short term -- you're right -- it calls for a little belt tightening; but in the long run, it's not much to worry about.\n\nAlso, the amount of the budget consumed by all of the social-welfare programs of the US (minus Medicare and Social Security) amounts to no more than 3% of the annual budget. everyone always thinks its more; but seriously, it's a very small percentage. In Britain, social welfare costs are about 18% of the total budget. In France, about 22%; and I could go on, but I think you get my point.\n\nAs to your comments about trade. Actually, people are lining up to trade with America. America leads the world in Computer hardware and software sales. The agricultural industries of America sell to the world. While America has lost manufacturing jobs over the years -- this is not to worry, as America has transformed itself into the first Post-Industrial society, providing services to clients around the world that earn American companies hundreds of billions every year.\n\nAnd finally, yes, oil is a problem. But it's not just America's problem, it's a problem for everyone else as well. The greatest challenge of this century is going to find the substitute for the world's addiction to petrolium. But here's the good news. Because America has one of the strongest economies on earth, It's Americans who will have the greatest resources to come up with an answer. And that answer having been been found, will make Americans even better off tomorrow.\n\nDon't believe all the bad news you hear on the news. Remember, people in the media want ratings points. And they don't get viewers by concentrating on good news -- only bad. There's plenty of good news out there. Trust me.\n\nHope this answer helps. Cheers, mate.
770460
If this nation still exists in its present form, and if this nation is not flat broke, current trends will continue.  Voters will elect whoever promises the most goodies.  No one will care how, or when, we will pay for them.  That's part of the "....lack to commit to anything...." that you mentioned. \n\nWe have an opportunity to become like a Third World Country in 30 years.  That will go nicely with the American Presidency, which is really a constitutionally weak office.
918283
Not sure of the exact amount of China's investment into the US national Debt. However, they seem to be making a decent penny from it... Which leads me to believe, as long as they can stay invested, not likely they are going to want to see our country damaged, that's a good thing for now.
327156
And your not, just another mentally deficient, me, type repuglican. Do not worry about tomorrow, never mind that the kids and grand kids will have to pay this debt, and more importantly the interest. Do you realize that the interest on a 3 trillion dollar debt is enough to fund health care for each individual in the country, oh that's right you have health care and it don't matter to you. I bet I am closer to "right" then you are.
559664
I don't think anyone really talks about it.  No one even tries to justify it anymore.  We just try to make believe it isn't there.  Of course, it isn't larger than our GDP yet, so that's a good thing, but on the other hand, the GDP isn't sitting around waiting for the government to spend it, either.  GDP belongs to individuals, not to the government.  So the idea that a high GDP justifies a high government debt is ludicrous unless the government plans to nationalize all the assets in the nation.\n\nThere are no guidelines or rules for 'bankruptcy' for nations.  This is why some of the more insolvent nations haven't figured out what to do about their even more serious debt problems.  This is at the root of the 3rd world debt crisis.\n\nIf everyone stopped lending to the U.S., we'd probably have to stop spending so much.  Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing, hmmm?
345037
i assume you mean the U.S. deficit...just keep printing more money and it will be ok.....lol
850533
The long and the short of it is that government cut spending and balanced the budget under the Clinton administration, then STARTED collected more taxes than were being spent by the time Bush took office. This amounted to a PROJECTED surplus, not a real one "yet."\n\nBush continued and worked on cutting domestic spending (where Clinton cut spending in military) and pushed through tax cuts to stimulate the economy that was floundering when he took office, and then, of course the war on terror broke out. Though 'fixing social security' and rebuilding the military was part of his platform, (he really needed to rebuild it quickly now). Any of the PROJECTED surplus was spent away and the budget hasn't been balanced since (go figure) and no additional debt reduction was ever pursued.\n\nSo, the surplus you hear about never really came into being and the national debt has been steadily going up for over 50 years without any sign of being reduced. \n\nSo, since most of the government's IOU's are in the budget columns of social security, you had better invest into a 401k! Hope that makes sense....
444615
The national debt is actually something that is undermining our national security by handing over a very large portion of our economy to foreign powers.\n\nIn international finance, everything is balanced through a very complicated system including value of exported and imported goods, value of currency, value of precious metal reserves (gold & silver), and other valued goods. When the US spends more than it makes as a nation, there are several things that could happend: 1. Other countries step in and "loan" money to the US through the purchase of Treasury Bills (T-Bills); 2. The US dollar is devalued (i.e. goes down compared to other currencies).\n\nRight now, foreign nations are purchasing T-Bills in order to loan the US the money that it spends. Basically, the T-Bill is a note that promises the purchaser that the US Government will pay back the money owed.\n\nThe problem is, when other countries have large amounts of these T-Bills, they effectivly control the US economy by the threat of dumping the t-bills onto the international market. For instance, if China decided that it really didn't want the US to supply arms to Taiwan, it could take all of its T-bills and dump them in the international market. Overnight, the US Dollar would plummet, thus raising the cost of imported goods in the US. The result is that $5 t-shirt made overseas now costs $10. Inflation would be rampant, businesses would shut down, unemployment would rocket up, and the US economy would be in tatters in a matter of weeks.
763808
Foreign National Debt is above 3 trillion at record levels so I say no. Current US fiscal policy is designed to move wealth to the upper class from the middle class. The government does not seem to want to protect the majority of its people but thats what we deserve for voting in these leaders.
699891
How about we cut elsewhere like....\n\n- Subsidies to industry/agri-business  (tobacco, corn, wool, mohair, etc.)\n- Foreign Aid\n- Kill all pork-barrel earmarks\n\nIf the deficit is really in the $200-300 billion range (which its not-- its more like $600-800BB), then cut across the board whatever percentage that is of the budget + some to retire some of the national debt.
124075
You would think so, and so would congress, and on paper it probaly does.  But the national budget for the last few years has meant nothing at all.  Absolutley nothing.  We spend even though we don't have, so what does it matter that we're off by a couple of trillion? Congress can always just allot more money for whatever as it goes along.
408223
There is nothing wrong with having a national debt. That is a very common misnomer. The national debt is simply the acculation of outstanding savings bonds that are purchased, primarily by us (the American public). You go buy a bond, and the government owes you the money back. It is just a paper transfer, not a sunk cost. A surplus would only mean that these have been paid off. That isn't NECESSARILY the optimal condition.
237190
More than any human can comprehend.  You could not count to our national debt if you started from birth and lived 200 years.