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Any discussion of debt and deficit is meaningless without discussing assets. The assets of the federal government and the local and state governments is is never discussed. How much land does the federal government own?

Locally, Eglin AFB has about 500,000 acres, including some of the prettiest beach property you ever want to see. Down the road is Blackwater State Forest and Conech National Forest. How much is all that worth? How much are the buildings and airfields worth? If you go out west, the federal government seems to own most of the land. What's the value of that? How much are the buildings in Washington, D.C. worth? What's the value of the national parks?

The point is that we always talk about how much the government owes without talking about how much the government owns.

In evaluating a company or individual, we look at assets less liabilities to find how much the company or individual is worth. If we did that with America, we'd find out that America is worth a heck of a lot more than the national debt.

Any discussion of debt and deficit is meaningless without discussing assets.

In evaluating a company or individual, we look at assets less liabilities to find how much the company or individual is worth. If we did that with America, we'd find out that America is worth a heck of a lot more than the national debt.

Any discussion of assets is meaningless if the asset is neither for sale nor has a buyer. And we're not talking about companies or individuals. We're talking about the land mass of United States.

If you seriously think a "Louisiana Sale" can be done to raise capital to payoff liabilities, then you had better have the legal means to separate them from the union, and find a buyer who can pay what it is worth.

Then you can talk about the land 'real estate' of the US as being an asset to offset its financial liabilities.

OTOH, if the land will not or can not be separated and sold, then it is an illiquid asset and can not be used to offset liabilities.

Locally, Eglin AFB has about 500,000 acres, including some of the prettiest beach property you ever want to see. Down the road is Blackwater State Forest and Conech National Forest. How much is all that worth? How much are the buildings and airfields worth? If you go out west, the federal government seems to own most of the land. What's the value of that? How much are the buildings in Washington, D.C. worth? What's the value of the national parks?

Sure those assets should be counted in a calculation of net worth. However, are we willing to liquidate those assets to make payments on our debts?

Would you have us hand the Eglin AFB deed to the Chinese instead of making an interest payment? Are you interested in giving our National Forests to the Saudis? How would you feel about visiting our nation's capitol and finding that the buildings there were owned by the Japanese because we owed them a bunch of money?

Unless these assets are on the table as collateral, then they should be kept off the books for the purposes of this discussion.