US Debt Clock

[Questor]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[DDZ]

The US population number is going up. Is that because of babies being born or is that because of mexicans crossing the border?

[Graybeard]

The US population number is going up. Is that because of babies being born or is that because of mexicans crossing the border?

Actually it's a combination of wet backs coming in from Mexico and births among black, latino and muslims.

[teamnelson]

I was trying to talk about our debt with my 14 yo son, who's pretty smart, and I had to throw my hands up. Does the debt really matter, because its not like we're ever gonna pay it off? Most of it is owned by China and Saudi Arabia, and we don't seem to be interested in being independent of them, so if they cash in their bonds, who cares? So its artificial. When the largest economy in the world is a bad credit risk? I pity the guy who maybe wants to fix it on down the road ... he'd have to slash so many programs to pay off debt, government would only be left with a standing army and commerce. Oh wait ...

If the US were a person, we'd be on the street with a cardboard sign reading "sex for food" because that's all we seem to care about.

[mechanic]

The real problem is devaluation of the US dollar.  Ours has been the currency the world traded against.  We are now likely to see the Yuan or some other currency become the norm.  That would trigger inflation the likes of which we have never imagined, and will make us a third world nation overnight.  Remember all the things we really need, we get from somewhere else now....like oil and nat. gas.....steel.....foundry materials....large machine tools.....

[Questor]

It matters because your dollar is worth less with every tick. The money you have saved is becoming less valuable, thanks to bad government money policy.

[teamnelson]

I'm debt free, have been for 20 years. Raised two great young adults, saved for college, braces and retirement, no arrests, no drugs, no drama, enlisted out of High School, earned my way through post-graduate work, and wake up every morning and put a uniform on. So my hard earned savings/retirement will be devalued to bailout other people's bad decisions? I want partial ownership of every mortgage, every Hummer, and stock in Govt Motors, and free tickets to whatever circus we're paying for through the NEA (so I can burn them).

If I'm paying the bills around here, I better get some sayso.

[Questor]

I know how you feel. It's like my butt hurts every time I think about it.

Oh well, we can always play poker. "I'll see your trillion, and raise you two quintillion...." People are mighty confident with money when it's not theirs to lose.

[Oldshooter]

tommyt started posting the debt clock here a while back and it depressed me to the point that i was constantly depressed!

I'm resigned to the fact that it is insurmountable and that  the best years of this country are behind us and I am saddened that this generation let it go to hell!