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It is no secret that the U.S. economy continues to plod along in a continued, long term economic funk: * 42 consecutive months of the official unemployment rate greater than 8%. * A combined unemployment and underemployment rate of almost 15%. * Household income that has dropped more in the three years since the recesson ended vs. the two years of the actual recession. * Household wealth that has retreated to levels last seen 17 years or so ago. * Millions of homes under water or in foreclosure proceedings. * Gasoline prces that have more than doubled since January, 2009. But consider some other bad economic trends and situations that have recently been gathered from official government sources and published by the Bankrupting America organization's website: September, 2012 Monthly SnapShot: Federal Spending, the Economy, the Budget And Economic Facts State of the Federal Debt -National Debt: $16.06 trillion - - Debt per American including infants and kids: $51,071 - Debt per Household: $140,586 - Net Interest on the Debt: $343.1 billion (first 11 months of fiscal year) - at this rate, every American household has already paid about $3000 to the Federal government this year alone just to finance the runaway interest payments on the Federal government's deficits. State of the Budget - Budget Deficit (September, 2012): $190.5 billion - this one MONTH'S worth of Obama budget deficit is actually greater the the ANNUAL spending deficit that Bush ran up in two years of its administration (2002 and 2007). - Budget Deficit (FY2011): $1.297 trillion - in 2011, the Federal government spent about $148 million a DAY that it did not have revenue to cover, requiring increases in the national debt. - Revenue (Fiscal Year to Date): $2.188 trillion - The Federal government would have to reduce its spending 8.2% a year for five straight years to just get its spending in line with its revenue/tax stream. Imagine how far out of control spending is if you had to reduce your own spending that amount for five years in a row to attain that same status. - Spending (Fiscal Year to Date): $3.354 trillion - Budget Deficit (FY2012 to Date): $1.164 trillion - in 2012, the Federal government spent about $132 million a DAY that it did not have revenue to cover. - Under Harry Reid's leadership, the U.S. Senate has failed to produce a detailed budget, as required by the Constitution, in over 1,200 days, over three years. State of the Economy - Annualized Economic Growth: 1.7 percent (second quarter preliminary) - average long term annual growth of the U.S. economy is about 3.4%, more than double the current anemic economic growth of this economy. - Trade Deficit: $42.0 billion (July 2012) - Using rough estimates by extrapolating the July results, in all likelihood over $400 billion of wealth leaves this country every year due to the ongoing trade imbalance. - Unemployment: 8.1 percent (August 2012) - Jobs Created in 2012: 1.114 million (first eight months of 2012) - every week this year about 360,000 Americans filed for first time unemployment benefits every week, dwarfing the 1.114 jobs created. - States with the Highest Unemployment Rates: NV (12.0 percent) RI (10.8 percent) CA (10.7 percent) NJ (9.8 percent) SC (9.6 per cent) NC (9.6 per cent) - States with the Lowest Unemployment Rates: ND (3.0 percent) NE (4.0 percent) SD (4.4 percent) OK (4.9 percent) VT (5.0 percent) Unfortunately, the states with the highest unemployment rates tend to be bigger, more populous states while the states with the lowest unemployment rates tend to be smaller, less populous states. Horrific numbers and a horrific economic situation our political class has gotten us into. And if you look closely, you see that many of these politicians actually recognize what they have done to us and the country: Colorado Senator Michael Bennet as quoted in the Washington Post on September 3, 2010: "We have managed to acquire $13 TRILLION of debt on our balance sheet. In my view, we have nothing to show for it." Unfortunately, about two years later, we have put another $3 TRILLION onto the national debt and still have nothing to show for it. Former U.S. Senator John Danforth: "I have never seen more senators express discontent with their jobs. I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices to doing something terrible and unforgivable to this wonderful country. Deep down in our hearts, we know that we have bankrupted America and that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected." Former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh: "Even at a time of enormous challenge, the people’s business is not being done. Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation: our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed, but seven members who had endorsed the idea instead voted ‘no’ for short-term political reasons." Yes, most Ameircans are aware of how precarious our fsical health and direction has become, getting worse everyday. Hyperinflation, government default, credit worthiness downgrades, loss of freedom and liberty, reductions in entitlement budgets, etc. are coming at us unless the Federal government and the political class that operate it do something coherent and fast. It is such a shame that current and former Washington politicians actually know the truth of how bad the situaiton is and what is in store for the nation, as shown in their statements above. The bigger shame is that they were part of the problem that got us a $16 TRILLION national debt and were not part of the solution. We need to immediately reduce Federal spending 10% a year for five years to finally get government spending in line with government tax revenue. You cannot start reducing your national debt until you get to a balanced budget,somehting that the above three polticiians now realize has tobe done,based ontheir actions and the actions of other Washington politicians over the past few decades. Let's resolve the crime of our national debt before it resolves our future for us in the form of the Four Horsemen of The Financial Apocalypse.
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apocalypse, bennet, bayh, danforth, national debt, unemployment, gdp,
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