Federal obligations exceed world GDP

World Net Daily - Via Drudge ^ | Feb 13, 2009 | Jerome R. Corsi

[Islander7]

As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.

The total U.S. obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits to be paid in the future, effectively have placed the U.S. government in bankruptcy, even before new continuing social welfare obligation embedded in the massive spending plan are taken into account.

The real 2008 federal budget deficit was $5.1 trillion, not the $455 billion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government" as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

[4Liberty]

Free speech, including talk radio, will be called “disruptive” to social order. Speaking out will be considered a crime, soon. Just like in China today.

Don’t laugh, I fear this will soon happen - unfortunately.

By talking, discussing, criticizing any of the state or federal government’s activities or any particular policy idea - i.e., engaging in free debate and free speech about the limits of government intervention - one will be said to be fomenting dissent and instability, causing unrest, and violating the law.

The fairness doctrine is the first step.

Even though Dems control Entertainment, K-12s and Higher Education, and the MSM, — that’s not good enough for them. They want all areas of free expression under their control and carefully monitored, censored, and “edited.”

It’s not good enough that they currently control most major arenas of thought (schools), expression (Hollywood), and communication (major newspapers and broadcasters). They won’t even tolerate Talk Radio. Bunch of evil cry-babies...

[Mark was here]

Sounds like a good time to build printing presses.

[Toddsterpatriot]

My mortgage exceeds my annual income. So what?

[Islander7]

My mortgage exceeds my annual income. So what?

So can you pay it off if the bank calls in your loan? ...and not just your loan, but everyone in your city? Can you pay off all those loans too?

That's 'so what'.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Sure. Financial warfare is a lot less messy than nuclear weapons, and will allow them to achieve the same strategic objectives.

When push comes to shove I'll bet we undertake to introduce the new "plutonium" standard. If we have to go down the chute, we won't go alone!

Regards,
GtG

[cc2k]

Toddsterpatriot wrote:

---

My mortgage exceeds my annual income. So what?

---

First, that mortgage is secured by an asset (your house) that should be worth more than the remaining balance of the loan. So if you stop paying, the bank can take your house, sell it, and pay off the loan.

You probably don't have an unsecured debt that's more than your annual income. Although credit card companies have gone nuts lately, so I can't say that for sure.

Government debt is secured by the assets of the government, everything the government owns, plus the expectation that the government will find the resources to pay its debts.

The truth is, our government has the assets to back up all this debt. We have gazillions of tons of Coal, plus natural gas and oil that we're sitting on. The Chinese especially will need that energy.

What will eventually happen is the Chinese will tell us we have to let them drill and take the energy resources we've been sitting on and not extracting for environmental reasons. They will insist we pay our debt with our resources. That time will come. And the more debt we have, the sooner it will happen.

[Toddsterpatriot]

So can you pay it off if the bank calls in your loan?

Banks can call in mortgage loans? How does that work?

[Toddsterpatriot]

So if you stop paying, the bank can take your house, sell it, and pay off the loan.

So the US debt is less worrisome than my mortgage. Got it.

Government debt is secured by the assets of the government,

Really? A Treasury security says that? Where?

What will eventually happen is the Chinese will tell us we have to let them drill

Or else what?

They will insist we pay our debt with our resources.

Our debt is denominated in dollars. They'll be paid back in dollars.

[Islander7]

Yes, there is an acceleration clause in all mortgage loans. Miss a couple of payments and the bank can legally demand payment in full.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Yes, there is an acceleration clause in all mortgage loans.

That's not the same thing as callable.

Miss a couple of payments and the bank can legally demand payment in full.

Not an issue. So did you have a point?

[rabscuttle385]

*Ping!*

[SierraWasp]

Maybe you better take me offa this kind of a ping list for awhile. All this fearmongering and negativity about America, especially amongst FReepers, is really starting to make me PIST!!

[DuncanWaring]

Why is the “GAAP with Medicare and SS - deficit” entry for 2004 so big relative to the others?

Is that due to the start of “Free Drugs for Granny”?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Plain truth rears its ugly scary head. American debt is a financial H-bomb which will decimate world economy.

[cc2k]

Toddsterpatriot wrote:

---

So the US debt is less worrisome than my mortgage. Got it.

---

Actually, it's more worrisome than your mortgage. A "foreclosure" on the entire nation would be devastating to everyone here.

Toddsterpatriot wrote:

---

Or else what?

---

Or else we become a third world country with a worthless currency and no ability to borrow capital from foreign sources. That's the best case "or else."

Or else they send their armies to take whatever they find to be of value as repayment for the debts. They could call it a "national foreclosure and eviction."

Toddsterpatriot wrote:

---

Our debt is denominated in dollars. They'll be paid back in dollars.

---

It's in our own best interest, and the bondholders' (Chinese, and other foreigners as well) to have those dollars actually be worth something.

Simply printing a few hundred thousand of a new million dollar denomination "Federal Reserve Note" and shipping them to China and our other bond holders won't work. They would consider that economic warfare, and at home, our dollars would instantly be worth almost nothing.

But you can take this prediction to the bank (or put it in a mason jar and bury it in your yard if you'd rather avoid the bank).

Prediction: Oil and natural gas production in ANWR, mining high quality coal in Southern Utah, and offshore oil production and onshore oil and natural gas production will start when the debt load gets too high and we have to start paying it down.

At the rate this administration is charging up our debt, this will come sooner than I thought.

Although I really thought the jobs created by the energy production would be the driving force. It would be the best possible stimulus to mitigate this economic recession.

But we had a fit of national economic stupidity last November, and we collectively decided we'd rather sit on our butts and collect unemployment and welfare benefits. And last week, the Congress decided to indulge all of our collective fantasies all at once, as quickly as possible, with no debate, as an "emergency" measure. So, for now, it's "Yes we can" borrow more money and pay ourselves unemployment and welfare benefits. Pay no attention that this is going to turn a recession into a deep depression.

Sooner or later, the world is going to tell us we have to get off our butts and earn something and start paying our debts. And when the bill finally comes due, the most valuable thing we have that can be developed most quickly is our energy resources. When we all grow up, or when the adults return to Washington and have to figure out how to pay the past due bills, that's what we have available that the world markets have high demand for.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Actually, it's more worrisome than your mortgage. A "foreclosure" on the entire nation would be devastating to everyone here.

How does a nation get put into foreclosure?

Or else we become a third world country with a worthless currency and no ability to borrow capital from foreign sources.

That's not foreclosure.

Or else they send their armies to take whatever they find to be of value as repayment for the debts. They could call it a "national foreclosure and eviction."

Please ping me when that happens.

It seems like you still don't understand, so I'll spell it out. Comparing the amount of my mortgage, payable over decades, with a single year of income is stupid.

Comparing the nation's shortfall over the next 75 years with a single year of income is stupid.

[CottonBall]

Good post, 4Liberty. I think you are right. Scary. Obama is already villifying talk radio - and they are nothing more than a bunch of entertainers! They have no political power and hold no elected offices. Yet, TPTB are afraid of them. The only reason can be that they are speaking the truth and that cannot be abided.

[CottonBall]

My mortgage exceeds my annual income. So what?

Does the ihterest on your mortgage exceed your annual income, after taxes? That's where we're headed.

[CottonBall]

How does a nation get put into foreclosure?

Ask Iceland. And Perhaps Argentina. Two different scenarios of how it might happen.

[Toddsterpatriot]

How does a nation get put into foreclosure?

Ask Iceland. And Perhaps Argentina.

Two examples where their debt was in another currency. Our debt is in dollars.