Posted on 12/01/2004 4:37:55 PM PST by soccer_linux_mozilla
75 Trillion hamburgers served at McDonalds?
It's been a long, long time since 1816 when Jefferson said all that stuff, and we've had a national debt since the Civil War at least (before that if you roll in all the old State debt, and the Revolutionary War debt).
Seems to me if people are really frantic about the debt, the government could do again what it did throughout the 19th Century to pay for operations: sell land. Something like 70% of Western land, used for grazing, mining, and recreation, is all federal government land, trillions of dollars worth. So sell it, get it on the state property tax rolls, and use the proceeds to eliminate the debt.
There is no good reason why half of Utah should belong to the Federal government.
Sell off the Federal land, at a modest pace, and earmark the proceeds for debt reduction.
...The balance sheet does not include all federal assets and foreseeable outflows of resources. Specifically, some government assets are not considered spendable resources, and many of the government's potential commitments do not meet the high threshold requirements for a recorded asset or liability. As an example, the asset side of the balance sheet currently omits vast holdings of public land.(9)
However, the financial report provides information on a broader range of claims in other parts of the document. For example, the balance sheet does not include payments for Social Security and Medicare until they are due and payable because these do not represent a current liability--current law may be changed to alter future payments. However, projected payments are reported in the special section on the government's so-called stewardship responsibilities. Nor does the balance sheet encompass contingent liabilities for losses that may occur in federal insurance programs. Information on those potential costs is provided either through notes to the statements or as required supplemental data.
In keeping with its focus on the financial effects of events that have already occurred, the balance sheet also omits what many regard as the government's most valuable "asset": its power to levy taxes. Future tax receipts (excepting those that currently constitute a "receivable," in accounting terms) are omitted because they do not meet FASAB's definition of an asset--which requires not only the likelihood of future economic benefit but a past event that conveyed ownership or control to the reporting entity. Thus, future income tax revenues are not counted as an asset to the government until taxable income is earned and taxes on it are collectible.(10)
The government's net position can be positive (more assets than liabilities) or negative (more liabilities than assets). At the end of 2003, the government's reported net position was an excess of liabilities over assets of $7.1 trillion, largely reflecting the government's borrowing to finance accumulated deficits and its accrued liabilities for federal employees' and veterans' benefits (see Table 2). As a percentage of GDP, the government's net position represented about 66 percent. By contrast, the budget's main measure of indebtedness--government debt held by the public and reported on a cash-flow basis--totaled $3.9 trillion, or 36 percent of GDP.
Even though the federal balance sheet bears a strong resemblance to that of a private company, the interpretation of the government's net position differs significantly from that of net equity, the corresponding measure for a private firm. A private firm with negative equity is insolvent. Because a sovereign government that retains its power to tax can continue to operate indefinitely, the government's net position indicates the extent to which the cost of past government activities will have to be paid in the future.
...
Footnotes
...
9. The Office of Management and Budget also produces a federal balance sheet; for 2003, it valued federal land at $553 billion and mineral rights at $649 billion. See Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2005: Analytical Perspectives, Table 12-1, p. 188. In addition, although the land's value is not "booked" (recorded on the asset side of the balance sheet), federal accounting standards require information on the number of acres of land held and descriptions of so-called heritage assets (such as monuments, museums, and historical sites). See Financial Report of the United States Government (February 27, 2004), pp. 94-97.
10. Revenues are recognized once a legally enforceable claim exists and the collection is probable and measurable. The accounting method used for taxes is a modified cash-basis method rather than one with an accrual basis. See Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, Accounting for Revenue and Other Financing Sources and Concepts for Reconciling Budgetary and Financial Accounting, Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards No. 7 (May 10, 1996), paragraphs 5, 6, and 46-49.
11. If an asset (or liability) is "bookable," it can be recorded on the asset (or liability) side of the balance sheet according to guidance provided by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board.
No, no, no. This is new technology. You could check it out Here
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 02 Dec 2004 at 02:59:52 AM GMT is:
$ 7,5 2 7, 6 4 0 , 8 3 3 , 3 0 4 . 7 1
The estimated population of the United States is 294,946,478
so each citizen's share of this debt is $25,522.06.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.74 billion per day since September 30, 2003!
Not Concerned?
Uh, we'll grow our way out of it by importing the entire third world?
I hope you're joking
money's just something you need in case you dont't die tomorrow...
Yes, that was my attempt at humor.
OK, you beat me to that one.
That should about cover it with some pocket change left over.
Thats debt, not deficit. That (national public) debit always rises.
Might not be a bad idea!!
Vermont would be the better choice...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.