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The latest round of extraordinary Federal Reserve stimulus is risky and leaves little room to maneuver....

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President Clinton loves to mention how he raised taxes in 1993 and generated a positive budget balance (in 1998, 1999 and 2000). But let’s take a closer look at the link between Clinton’s tax increase and the later budget surpluses. In 1993, President Clinton signed a massive tax increase that included: – An increase in the individual income tax rate to 36 percent and a 10 percent surcharge for the highest earners, thereby effectively creating a top rate of 39.6 percent. What is not mentioned by President Clinton is the 1997 Tax Cut. The Republican-led Congress passed a tax-relief and...

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble questioned on Tuesday how the United States could deal with its high levels of government debt after November's presidential election.

Most people don't understand the unsolvable problem the U.S. government has created for itself and its citizens. Sovereign default is beyond a likelihood; it is inevitable. When and which (possibly all) obligations are defaulted on will be determined by panicked politicians under duress. A complete financial and economic collapse appears unavoidable. I hope that is the worst that will occur. Official Government Debt The official federal debt is $16 trillion. This debt represents 100% of current GDP. Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart studied countries with high levels of government debt. This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly contains...

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"... A billion dollars... A hundred billion dollars... Eight hundred billion dollars... One TRILLION dollars... What does that look like?

<p>Republicans and Democrats spent last summer battling how best to save $2.1 trillion over the next decade. They are spending this summer battling how best to not save $2.1 trillion over the next decade.</p> <p>In the course of that year, the U.S. government’s fiscal gap --- the true measure of the nation’s indebtedness " rose by $11 trillion.</p>

By the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the new debt accumulated in this fiscal year by the federal government had already exceeded $1 trillion, making this fiscal year the fifth straight in which the federal government has increased its debt by more than a trillion dollars, according to official debt numbers published by the U.S. Treasury. Prior to fiscal 2008, the federal government had never increased its debt by as much as $1 trillion in a single fiscal year. From fiscal 2008 onward, however, the federal government has increased its debt by at least $1 trillion each...

Based on official 2010 International Monetary Fund data released earlier this year, the U.S. debt per capita is $46,208. Here's the same figure for the four European countries that have accepted bailouts. Ireland: $41,906 Greece: $38,159 Portugal: $19,686 Spain: $18,162 -snip- If "intra-governmental holdings" are excluded, the U.S. debt per capita falls to $34,285 -- and slips below Greece and Ireland, but above that of Portugal and Spain.

Earlier today, Angela Merkel issued a dramatic ultimatum about sharing debt loads with other Eurozone countries. We've often discussed how this would actually be something of a silver bullet to solving Europe's PIGS problem. Now, we have a map that helps illustrate the point — thanks to our friends at the Economist, by way of Taegan Goddard and Matt Yglesias. Below you'll see the geography of net federal transfer payments in the U.S. by state. The more pink the state, the more it takes out of the federal pot than it puts in...(or, if you prefer, the more freeloading off...

(CNSNews.com) - Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the Federal Reserve’s holdings of U.S. government debt have quintupled, according to the Fed’s official monthly balance sheet. On Jan. 28, 2009, a week after Obama’s nomination, the Fed owned $302 billion in U.S. Treasury securities. On April 25, 2012, the latest date reported, the Fed owned five and a half time that much in U.S. Treasury securities--$1.668 trillion. That is an increase from January 2009 of $1.366 trillion—or 452 percent. Under Obama, the Federal Reserve has become the single largest owner of U.S. government debt. When Obama entered...

Jasch wrote: There's a difference between saving jobs and creating them. The GM/Chrysler bailouts simply put....just saved the companies from bankruptcy and lay-offs. - Obama is Latest Surrogate to Break with ObamaDear Jasch,Actually the bailout did neither.Chrysler and GM still filed for bankruptcy and workers got laid off. Of course the only workers who got rehired were workers who were part of the UAW. All the non-UAW people were left out in the cold.As to the bankruptcy, the government insisted on the bankruptcy because it was the easiest way to screw the secured creditors and turn over the companies to...

WASHINGTON — Foreign demand for U.S. Treasury securities rose to a record high in March. China, the largest buyer of Treasury debt, increased its holdings for a third straight month. Total foreign holdings rose 0.3 percent to a $5.12 trillion, marking the eighth consecutive monthly increase, the Treasury Department reported Tuesday. U.S. government debt is considered one of the safest investments. Demand has increased as investors worry about the uncertainty surrounding Europe’s debt crisis. China boosted its holdings 1.3 percent to $1.17 trillion, its third straight increase. China had trimmed its holdings for five straight months before the January increase....

Lesson # 1: * 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 balance on the credit card: $142,710 * Total budget cuts: $385 Got It ?? OK. Now, Lesson # 2: Another way to look at the Debt Ceiling: Let's say you come home from work and find there’s been a sewer backup in your...

Isn’t it funny what you can find out on Friday evening about what our executive branch does? For instance, Agence France-Presse reported last night that Barack Obama bypassed Congress to send $192 million to the Palestinian Authority, claiming that national security required the US to put money into Mahmoud Abbas’ pocket: President Barack Obama has signed a waiver to remove curbs on funding to the Palestinian Authority, declaring the aid to be “important to the security interests of the United States.” A $192 million aid package was frozen by the US Congress after the Palestinians moved to gain statehood at...

The frightening notion that our irresponsibility in Washington is leading us down the path to becoming nothing more than a colony of China is not lost on most Americans. Although, to this point, it has had everything to do with China funding our government’s obscene spending addiction...

Today, without much fanfare, US debt to GDP hit 101% with the latest issuance of $32 billion in 2 Year Bonds. If the moment when this ratio went from double to triple digits is still fresh in readers minds, is because it is: total debt hit and surpassed the most recently revised Q4 GDP on January 30, or just three weeks ago. Said otherwise, it has taken the US 21 days to add a full percentage point to this most critical of debt sustainability ratios: but fear not, with just under $1 trillion in new debt issuance on deck in...

President Barack Obama has been increasing the national debt during his presidency by an average of $4.24 billion per day ($4,240,506,004.34) putting him on a pace to increase the national debt by $6.2 trillion ($6,195,379,272,340.74) by the end of his term on Jan. 20, 2013, according to the debt figures published by the U.S. Treasury.That $6.2 trillion is more debt than was accumulated by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton combined. In fact, the U.S. national debt did not eclipse the $6.195 trillion level—the amount Obama is on pace to increase it in one term—until August 19,...

Yesterday, as the New Hampshire returns rolled in, I tweeted wearily, “I’d hoped for something different.” The incomparable Stephen Kruiser tweeted back, “You’re young. Get used to saying that if you plan on staying in the GOP.”That wisdom returned to me this morning when I read this from CNSNews.com: When the Republican-controlled House approved its first CR on March 4, 2011, the national debt was 14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the U.S. Treasury. As of the close of business on Jan. 9, 2012, the national debt was 15,236,506,139,986.86.That means the debt increased by $1.05 trillion over the past ten months.That equals approximately...

How the U.S. National Debt Could Drain Your Savings January 9, 2012 By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning Now that Congress has allowed the U.S. national debt to grow bigger than the American economy, it won't be long until the American public suffers the consequences by losing most of its savings to inflation.Figures for last year show the national debt officially exceeded 100% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). According to government figures, the national debt stood at $15.23 trillion at the close of 2011, compared to a GDP of $15.18 trillion. "The 100% mark means that your...