Is there a federal budget surplus? See for
yourself, check the National Debt.
Visit the Treasury Department's web
page (link below) where
the national debt is posted daily; see if it's
growing or not.
According to the Department of the Treasury, the National Debt at the end of FY97 was $5.413 Trillion; at end of FY98, $5.526 Trillion; at the end of FY99, $5.656 Trillion. So the debt grew $130 Billion in FY99. If we have a surplus, why did we borrow $130 Billion? The answer is revealed later on this page.
As of 25 February 2000, the National Debt was $5.748 Trillion; that's $92 Billion increase already in FY2000. The Federal Government is still borrowing! Watch closely, friends.
In FY99 the interest payment on the National Debt was $354 Billion; that's the biggest item in the federal budget. The bar chart below shows funding appropriations to each Federal Agency; compare the FY99 interest payment ($354 Billion) to what was appropriated to NASA: $14 Billion, Education: $32 Billion, and roads: $41 Billion.
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Suppose you need some extra money this month. Since you need extra money, you have a "budget deficit". So you borrow. The amount you then borrowed (and now owe) is called your debt. And you have to pay interest on your debt. If next month you don't have enough money (another budget deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loan. If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This situation is known as bankruptcy. Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations. Now the total borrowed is more than $5,700,000,000,000 and it still growing. |
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Social Security is not part of the Federal Budget. It is separate and has its own source of income and its own separate trust fund. But Congress spent the money in the Social Security Trust Fund on other things, promising to pay it back. That promise is now part of the National Debt. Beware of the term "Social Security Surplus"; there is no such thing. Social Security has a Trust Fund, and since Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, there is never more in the Trust Fund than will ever be needed. |
"For society as a whole, nothing comes as a 'right' to which we are 'entitled'. Even bare subsistence has to be produced.... The only way anyone can have a right to something that has to be produced is to force someone else to produce it... The more things are provided as rights, the less the recipients have to work and the more the providers have to carry the load." Thomas Sowell, quoted in Forbes and Reader's Digest.
"There is no such thing as government money - only taxpayer money." William Weld, quoted in Readers Digest.
You are a taxpayer. Is your money being spent the way you want it spent? Have you told your Representative, your Senators?
Click here for more information about the National Debt Awareness Campaign.
Want to know more about the Federal Budget and the National Debt? Visit some of these great web sites.
DISCLAIMER: The National Debt Awareness Center does not support any political party; it advocates reduction of the National Debt and elimination of any form of taxation based on income. No government should have any knowledge of your income!
The author of this web site is Gene Simmons, Founder, National Debt Awareness Campaign (NDAC). You are authorized to copy and freely distribute the bar chart and the article. Just include a reference to this web site.
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