Tag Archives: National Debt

Thursday Numbers

Welcome once again to Thursday Numbers!  If you are a new visitor to The Western Word, Thursday Numbers is where I take a look at the numbers in the news and provide commentary (often with a touch of sarcasm).

PLEASE NOTE:  The Western Word is not responsible for the knowledge you will gain by reading this column!  You will probably be able to use this knowledge to impress your family, friends and co-workers!  At least it might be something to use as trivia!  This information might even be life-changing.  Consider yourself warned…

This week I write about the national debt, unemployment, a tip, firings, Conrad and Pondera, hitting the mark, opening day, fewer tricks, veterans, polls, a veto, and much more!

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Montana Senate 2012: Confident?

As I was reading the news this morning, I saw the headline “Tester confident his record will stand during big re-election challenge from Rehberg.”

In case you missed the news, first-term U.S. Senator Jon Tester (Democrat) filed for re-election on Tuesday in Helena, Montana.  You can read the story HERE.

Personally, Tester saying he is “confident” about his record seems like a stretch, but each person will have to make up their own mind.  For me, when a candidate (in this case a U.S. Senator) files for re-election, it begs the question, “Are you better off now than you were six years ago?”

So I quickly jotted down nine or ten things to help me answer that question (and to help me with this column) without even thinking too much about it.  Enjoy… Continue reading →

Monday Morning Politics

January just seems to go by so slow – and I can honestly say it is one of my least favorite months.  Luckily we have politics and football to keep our minds occupied during these cold and lonely times!

If you are a new visitor to The Western Word, almost every Monday I round-up some of the political stories from the weekend and put them all in one place for all to see – and offer some commentary.

Today I take a look at a big problem, the Chamber, Thursday, a poll, a party, and a lot more – so read on!

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Thursday Numbers

Congratulations on making it to Thursday!  Just one more day after today and you’ve made it to another weekend.

Almost every Thursday we take a look at some of the numbers in the news.  Today we look at millionaires, insurance, the Brawl of the Wild, bankruptcy, dating, approval ratings, buying a house and a lot more…

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Yard & Bake Sale Time?

And there it was….on Monday the United States Federal Government reached the limit on how much money it can borrow.

Have no fear! Our Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (who has been known for not paying a few bills in his lifetime) is shuffling around some money (kind of like paying off your Visa with your American Express credit card) and that pushes the inevitable back to August.

So let’s party this summer!

I heard that Geithner has even placed a call to “Peggy” from USA Prime Credit to ask for help. Here’s a video… Continue reading →

Trillion is the new Billion

With a very small victory for the fiscal conservatives last week almost in the books, it is now time to look ahead at raising the Debt Limit.

To explain this in basic terms, let’s say you have a credit card and the maximum you are allowed to charge on the card is $1000. You are approaching $1000 in charges and now you want to raise that limit so you can charge more. So you contact the credit card company to ask to have your limit increased.

Basically, Congress has spent so much money that we are (once again) approaching the limit on our credit card. The funny thing here is that Congress gets to vote to raise the limit so they can charge more. Our credit card (or debt) limit is $14.3 Trillion. We will reach that limit in May 2011.

Some folks believe we have to raise the debt limit or it will do damage to our country. Even President Obama voted against raising the Debt Limit in 2006 when he was a senator. He now contends that was a mistake. Things sure do change when you are in the White House. Continue reading →

Washington through Reagan

Debt is not something that is sexy or appealing to write about, but I’ve mentioned on this website many times about the record spending going on by the Democratic-controlled Congress and the Obama Administration.

It’s killing the United States. Please read on…

Here’s something to ponder:

In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.

Great googly moogly.  More than all U.S. Presidents – Washington through Reagan. Continue reading →

National Security Threat

Just imagine if you had to pay $600 billion in interest. $600 billion! It’s an astonishing number. According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, that is what the United States will be paying in 2012 on the national debt.

Some have disputed that, but the fact is that we’re (the USA) is in a world of hurt.

Some folks are probably wondering why the Admiral is talking about the interest on the national debt and the answer is simple: it’s a national security threat. That’s not to say, the Department of Defense’s budget hasn’t increased significantly over the last decade – two wars will do that.

Mullen told CNN: Continue reading →