A website — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt — shows that the U.S. is debt by $14.26 trillion as of March. This should not be confused with federal government’s annual gross debt of more than $1 trillion.
The deficit is the amount spent in excess of the government’s income in any given year. The debt is the cumulative total owed by the government.
President Obama ordered a budget with more than a $450 billion increase over last year’s spending. This was less of an increase than his advisors wanted, so it was termed as being a “lean budget plan.” Congress played games, then decided to a budget plan matching the president’s $450 billion, minus $38 billion. The national debt will increase by the $412 billion in extra spending, plus the interest owed on the national debt.
The whole process of reducing the deficit is a sham, and Congress knows it.
Ronald McGee
Camas
