Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

No, there are no space invaders or dangerous aliens attacking Will Robinson, just a Congress that can't stop spending money and a President who does not seem to understand that unless drastic steps are taken, the US will become the next Greece.  The US now has debt equal to all the goods and services produced by the economy!  This is not some third world country, it is the largest economy in the world.  When are our leaders going to awaken from their stupor? When are Americans going to get angry and demand changes?

CNN.com on July 21, 2011( edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/...debt.../index.ht... - United Kingdom)   reported the following: 
"Topping the European debt league is Greece with 142.8% government debt to GDP ratio, followed by Italy (119.0%), Belgium (96.8%) Ireland (96.2%), Portugal (93.0%), Germany (83.2%), France (81.7%) Hungary (80.2%) and the United Kingdom (80.0%)." 

The article continued:
"The lowest government debt to GDP ratios were recorded in Estonia (6.6%), Bulgaria (16.2%) and Luxembourg (18.4%), according to the Eurostat report."

Our debt is worse than Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, and Hungary. All but Belgium are members of the PHIIGS (Portugal,Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain), the name given to the sickest economies in Europe. What company we are keeping!

If this does not focus our attention on the issues facing us, nothing will. We must cut spending and find ways to increase our GDP or we will face the same situation that Greece is. Do we really want other countries dictating what we can spend our money on or what benefits we can give our citizens?  We won't have a choice unless WE make some very hard choices. Life cannot go on as it has been!

We have heard the political candidates espouse various plans and we like some of them, however, unless and until the American people buy into the need for drastic action, there will be no action.  And understanding human nature, we believe there will be NO action on this until it is  too late.  At that time, watch the finger pointing!

The United States is in pretty bad shape and we will do nothing until China calls our loans or some other drastic event occurs.  Unfortunately, we do not have a robot warning us of danger as Will Robinson did. Too bad, we need one!

Conservative Tom

U.S. DEBT IS NOW EQUAL TO ECONOMY

January 9, 2012
USA Today
Richard Wolf

WASHINGTON – The soaring national debt has reached a symbolic tipping point: It's now as big as the entire U.S. economy.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stand next to a national debt clock during a rally Sunday in Exeter, N.H. The debt is projected to surge.

The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 trillion.

That's roughly equal to the value of all goods and services the U.S. economy produces in one year: $15.17 trillion as of September, the latest estimate. Private projections show the economy likely grew to about $15.3 trillion by December — a level the debt is likely to surpass this month.

"The 100% mark means that your entire debt is as big as everything you're producing in your country," says Steve Bell of the Bipartisan Policy Center, which has proposed cutting nearly $6 trillion in red ink over 10 years. "Clearly, that can't continue."

Long-term projections suggest the debt will continue to grow faster than the economy, which would have to expand by at least 6% a year to keep pace.

President Obama's 2012 budget shows the debt soaring past $26 trillion a decade from now. Last summer's deficit reduction deal could reduce that to $24 trillion.

Many economists, such as the Brookings Institution's William Gale, say a better measure of the nation's debt is how much the government owes creditors, not counting $4.7 trillion owed to future Social Security recipients and other government beneficiaries. By that measure, the debt is roughly a third less: $10.5 trillion, or nearly 70% the size of the economy.

That is still high by historic standards. The total national debt topped the size of the economy for three years during and after World War II. It dropped to 32.5% of the economy by 1981, then began a steady climb under President Reagan, doubling over the next 12 years. The combination of recession and stimulus spending caused it to soar again under Obama.

Among advanced economies, only Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Portugal have debts larger than their economies. Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Italy are at the root of the European debt crisis. The first three needed bailouts from European central banks; Italy's books are monitored by the International Monetary Fund.

The White House and Congress agreed in August to cut about $1 trillion from federal agencies over 10 years. An additional $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts looms beginning next year if lawmakers can't agree on a better way to do it.

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics says reaching the 100% mark shows "the grave need to address our long-term fiscal problems."