The rest of this transcript is worth the read. Must go now and meet a client. Have a good day.
DOBBS: The invasion of illegal aliens into this country is one of several threats to our wealth, our standard of living, our quality of life. Another is our exploding trade deficit and the rising export of American wealth overseas. The trend is beginning to discourage if none at home, some at least in foreign countries who are investing in this country.
Lisa Sylvester reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The current account balance reflects what Americans earn and what they spend, including trade and international investment. The picture is not very pretty.
The United States last made ends meet in 1991 with a $10-1/2 billion surplus. Since then, the current account balance has been freefalling. The current account deficit for the last three months alone reached a record $164.7 billion.
To put that number into context, that's larger than Portugal's entire economy. Economists say we may be headed toward a day of reckoning.
CATHERINE MAIN, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Right now, basically, the entire deficit can be accounted for by the trade deficit in consumer goods and automobiles.
SYLVESTER: Americans are on a spending spree, but they're not buying American goods. So the money to finance the buying binge has come from foreigners.
China and Japan are the largest foreign holders of U.S. Treasury securities, but foreigners are increasingly growing skittish because of the large U.S. trade and budget deficits.
Here's a little example. In two years the US is changing the broadcast standard for TVs. Most of the country will be buying HDTV's between this Christmas season and January 2007. How many of those sets will be manufactured in the US of A. None!