January 9, 2013
Best "In a Nuthouse" Explanation of the Year!
Of course, the year is still young...
This is ripped straight from Rich Galen's most recent Mullings; and if you're not reading Mullings -- for free! (but please send a $30 donation at fundraising time) -- you're missing a treat and a wonder.
Here's the bit, sent in by one of Rich's readers; and boy does this just put the federal debt cliff on that old nutshell:
- U.S. Tax revenue: $ 2,170,000,000,000
- Fed budget: $ 3,820,000,000,000
- New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
- National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
- Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
- Annual family income: $ 21,700
- Money the family spent: $ 38,200
- New debt on the credit card: $ 16,500
- Outstanding credit card balances: $ 142,710
- Total budget cuts so far: $ 38.50
One quibble: I believe the national debt is closer to $16 trillion than $14 trillion -- leaving the "household budget" in dutch for $160,000 samolians, not $142,710; but who's counting? (Certainly not Obama, Geithner, or "Pinky" Reid!) But that just gilds the cake.
I wonder if a simple YouTube of someone pointing at a chart very like unto this one could go viral, and maybe shake the faith of a few Obamolytes?
Hatched by Dafydd on this day, January 9, 2013, at the time of 12:17 AM
Comments
The following hissed in response by: Beldar
To be more accurate, the comparison ought to be to total household debt (including long-term mortgage debt), not just to credit card debt.
The Lefties like to argue that with the Fed keeping interest rates so low, all this borrowing is like taking advantage of "free money."
This was precisely the pitch made by the car salesman who'd just gotten me approved at a great interest rate on my new car loan, as he was trying to persuade me to roll into the costs of the financing several more thousands of dollars for extended warranty coverages. "It's almost like you're getting this extended warranty for free!" he gushed.
"No it isn't," I said, "it's exactly like I'm going to pay several thousand dollars for that coverage, a little bit at a time and at a low interest rate in the meantime. But I have to eventually pay every dollar of that additional charge if I sign up for the extended warranties, right?"
It's bad enough that it's debt. We don't have to compare it to "credit card debt" in particular.
The above hissed in response by: Beldar ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://biglizards.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 12, 2013 12:44 PM
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