National Debt Increase from 4/30/05 - 4/30/06

Ken,

Seeing as you like to do all this research...

Do this one for us...

Go back through the last three Presidents... Say 20 to 24 years worth...

Gather all the numeric increases in the National Debt...

Then compare the them to the GNP and GDP figures...

Also, add marginal notes as to what extrenal causes may have been involved...

I think it may show some interesting information...

Mike sr.

 

We'll wait...

After all if it's important enough for you to bring one year to our attention...

It's important enough to have an accountant's 'context'

 

Most of the Debt is held by China and other foreign companies. What can they do with it? Hold it, sell it to another party at a loss, spend it in the USofA to but American assets or services.

I'm told that worse possibility is that Iran will insist upon payments in euros and that the euro will become the world reserve currency. I don't understand whi thys is terrible. Can someone please explain?

Same people claim that the current Bush war was started because Saddam was going to demand paymeny in euros and that Bush will start another war to stop Iran.

 

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

Source: Blue Dog Coalition

 

A dollar crisis erupted in 1970-1971 when foreign central banks who had been flooded with dollars funding U.S. deficits began to demand payment for their dollars in gold according to the Bretton Woods agreement. The U.S. had printed so many dollars and borrowed so much money from foreign banks that U.S gold reserves were rendered insufficient, making full payment in gold an impossibility. The crisis required an immediate solution to save America from default and bankruptcy... The solution came when America announced it would immediately sever the link between the dollar and gold, making it abundantly clear to all its creditors that America would never repay any of the billions of dollars it had borrowed with physical gold, but rather with depreciating paper dollars backed by nothing but the “reputation” of the U.S. Government.

At this point the United States declared itself an empire when it arbitrarily severed the link between the dollar and gold. The act of severing this link was in reality an act of bankruptcy by the U.S. Government. However, because of its economic, political, and military power, no government on earth could oppose this action as they had no viable alternative. They were literally forced to continue accepting depreciating dollars in payment for their goods and services sold to America.

In order to ensure the world had an economic reason to continue holding dollars, America made an ironclad agreement with Saudi Arabia wherein the Saudis would accept only U.S. dollars as payment for their oil. With this move the dollar suddenly became backed by the one commodity every nation had to have to survive- OIL! In order to buy oil one would have to own dollars to pay for it. Even though the dollar could no longer be exchanged for gold, it was now exchangeable for oil!

In exchange for accepting only U.S. dollars, America agreed to support the power and position of the House of Saud and to protect them if they were ever attacked by one of their neighbors.

In the ensuing years world demand for oil began to increase, and so did the demand for dollars, forcing foreign governments all over the world to accumulate increasing amounts of dollars in order to purchase their oil. Over time, world markets evolved to the point where other commodities such as wheat, corn, soybeans, natural gas, gold, silver, and many others were all traded in dollars. Thus, the position of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency was firmly established, as was the requirement of foreign central banks to accumulate dollars to pay for all these commodities purchased on the world market.

With this system firmly in place the U.S. could print and borrow as much money as was needed without regard to any budget discipline whatsoever. As long as the dollar was the only acceptable means of payment for oil, its dominant position as the world’s reserve currency was assured, and America could borrow and spend whatever it wanted without fear of flooding the globe with excess dollars.

This staggering mountain of debt poses the greatest of threats to the economic survival of the United States were circumstances to arise wherein the dollar was not the only currency that nations could use to pay for their oil. If nations suddenly had a choice as to whether to pay for oil in euros rather than dollars, the supremacy of the American dollar would be seriously threatened, as would the economic viability of our great country.

Saddam tried this in September of 2000 when he demanded that all Iraqi oil sold under the U.N. Oil for Food Program must be paid for in euros rather than dollars.

Saddam’s actions were a direct threat to the supremacy of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency and the ability of the U.S. to continue to fund its massive deficits. This is born out by the fact that two months after the U.S. invaded Iraq, the Oil for Food program was terminated and all of the Iraqi euro accounts were switched back to dollars. No longer did the world have the option of buying oil from Iraq and paying for it in euros.

Iran is about to try the same thing with the Iranian Oil Bourse, which is based on a euro-for-oil trading exchange whereby the nations of the world will have the option of purchasing their oil in euros rather than dollars.

Source: http://seniorservants.tripod.com/id1.html

 

I didn't see a single supporting link...

Only an assertion that this was so...

Who is Eric Wortman and what is he doing having hidden pages on the House Server?

I tried to follow the links backwards to see which office was actually sponsering this...

Couldn't do it...

I find that *very* interesting...

This is cluttering up the House of Representatives Web Server at Tax Payer Expense....

I am not sure it's legal to do partisan politics at tax payer expense...

Mike Sr.
Page Captured Copied and Reported...

 

SpiritualMadMan, The Blue Dog Coalition is ten years old and is a group of 35 conservative and moderate Democrats in the US House, so I would guess being members of Congress they have a right to host their Web site on the House of Representatives Web Server. I would assume that Eric Wortman is proabably either their Webmaster or PR guy. Here is the link to the front page of their web site, it's not very hidden at all:

http://www.house.gov/cardoza/BlueDogs/bluedogs.shtml

You asked for some figures, I gave you some figures. Bush is the biggest borrower and biggest spender in US history, anyone who denies that, denies the facts! Since this press release was first published, the Bush administration got Congress to raise the debt limit again in March 2006, the fourth time since Bush took office, so the total ammount borrowed by this administration is much higher that the total stated in the press release, and it will only continue to increase.

 

So will Bush invade IRAN because of their oil?

 

It is all e-money anyway. Wait until China cashes in her chits? Look out in Ft. Knox. Is there any gold left in California?

Something is wrong--I just paid a dollar for a candy bar which used to cost a nickel. Gasoline was 30 cents a gallon then; so maybe it is all inflationarily relative--twenty times more for candy and ten times more for gas. My retirement is a pittence compared to the head of Exxon, however. Whoever said life is fair? All hail the industrial revolution.

The god of this world continues to destroy it. God, the Creator, is still on His throne.

Now what?

Selah,

Bro. James

 

I am not sure if I understand you, so I thought I would ask you directly rather than simply assume your position.

My question: are you implying that there is not cause for concern?

That is an honest question, by the way.

Regards,
BiR

 

90% of the money in circulation is electronic transfer.

 

Does this include all the money we spend in China? We buy over 10 times more from them than they from us.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

In 2005 the US had a current account deficit in excess of $800 billion. That means Americans consumed $800 billion more goods and services than they produced. A significant percentage of this figure is offshore production by US companies for American markets.

The US current account deficit as a percent of Gross Domestic Product is unprecedented. As more jobs and manufacturing are moved offshore, Americans become more dependent on foreign made goods. This year the deficit could reach $1 trillion.

The US pays its current account deficit by giving up ownership of its existing assets or wealth. Foreigners don't simply hold the $800 billion in cash. They use it to acquire US equities, real estate, bonds, and entire companies.

The federal budget is also in the red to the tune of about $400 billion. As Americans have ceased to save, the federal government is dependent on foreigners to lend it the money to operate and to wage war in the Middle East.

American consumers are heavily indebted. The growth of consumer debt is what has been fueling the economy. Social Security and Medicare are in financial trouble, as are many company pension plans. Decide for yourself--is this the economic picture of a superpower that can dictate to the world, or is it the picture of a second-rate country dependent on foreigners to finance its consumption and the operation of its government?

<snip>

The huge excess supply of labor means extremely low Chinese wages. The average Chinese wage is $0.57 per hour, a mere 3% of the average US manufacturing worker's wage. With first world technology, capital, and business knowhow crowding into China, virtually free Chinese labor is as productive as US labor. This should make it obvious to anyone who claims to be an economist that offshore production of goods and services is an example of capital seeking absolute advantage in lowest factor cost, not a case of free trade based on comparative advantage.

Paul Craig Roberts