Cut America's Debt

[Skilero]

Maybe someone should email this to the President?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...s-graphic.html

[Skylar1]

Uh, yeah, the US hit the point of no return long ago.

Even, if, we were to- today, reduce government spending to 0% (the most unrealistic amount possible) it would still take YEARS, if not decades to return to just break even.

[Genghis Beatrix]

Okay, say that there are 150 million working people ( I don't know how many are working, so go along with it ) and paid exactly $10,000 a year on a $15 trillion dollar debt. It would take out 1.5 trillion a year and would take ten years to pay off, but not every american can afford ten grand a year. Some make less than that, so it would take a lot longer to pay off, more like hundreds of years with the rate we spend. We may not be able to clear our debt at all.

[Shinn Kamiyra]

...Yeah, pretty much gave up any interest or any real hope on the States straightening its spending out quite a while ago. Best just to focus on one's self and plan ahead, financially speaking, as best you can.

[Skylar1]

...Yeah, pretty much gave up any interest or any real hope on the States straightening its spending out quite a while ago. Best just to focus on one's self and plan ahead, financially speaking, as best you can.

It's not that the US isn't willing, so much as it's actually infeasible!

Emergencies happen, and you need to pay for it somehow. It's like if you got into a big time accident, and went to the doctor without health insurance, it's not that you don't want to pay the medical expenses, but you can't. What are you going to do? take out a loan? You'd be paying that back longer than you'd probably live!

Your only option left, is to crash your credit and file bankruptcy.


For the US, that is the only option, and is only a matter of time. How that will play out and what will happen, I don't know..

[Eris]

That application seemed to indicate that the entire debt can be cut by reducing military spending and enforcing taxes on the wealthy. Seems sensible to me.

[Shinn Kamiyra]

It's not that the US isn't willing, so much as it's actually infeasible!

Emergencies happen, and you need to pay for it somehow. It's like if you got into a big time accident, and went to the doctor without health insurance, it's not that you don't want to pay the medical expenses, but you can't. What are you going to do? take out a loan? You'd be paying that back longer than you'd probably live!

Your only option left, is to crash your credit and file bankruptcy.


For the US, that is the only option, and is only a matter of time. How that will play out and what will happen, I don't know..

If we're going to be talking taking out loans, the States have been doing more than enough of that as of late; with China as a prime example.

@ bold: Well that certainly is a likely option; however, there's no real telling what will happen from this point on anyway. Though if something to that extreme were to happen, I would hope it still a fair ways away...

[Skilero]

If we're going to be talking taking out loans, the States have been doing more than enough of that as of late; with China as a prime example.

Speaking of which, I find it amazing more Americans don't know about this. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the Chinese really do enjoy those profitable investments they're making in the States as much as we do.

[animeyay]

Speaking of which, I find it amazing more Americans don't know about this. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the Chinese really do enjoy those profitable investments they're making in the States as much as we do.

China totally just wants to invest more in the US as a friendly ally. There's no way they are planning to hold the US's debt hostage in order to further their own interests.

[miniPhil]

How bout America seduces China and gets married. Then you can get divorced and BOOM! Hello payday!

[under the rain]

Cut the defense budget, raise taxes. Never gonna happen, though.

[animeyay]

How bout America seduces China and gets married. Then you can get divorced and BOOM! Hello payday!

They'll probably break up even before they get married due to their inability to reach a prenuptial agreement. XD

[Cobra Commander]

Well, we could do the Hitler method and just print a ton of money...

Or we could do the Lincoln method and issue a ton of US Notes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Note

No matter what we do, we're either paying the debt forever, or hyperinflating our currency. The biggest problem with hyperinflation is the chaos it would bring initially. After income caught up with expenses, there wouldn't be a problem. Question is how long would that take?