December 27, 2012
According to former Congress members Chris Cox and Bill Archer, writing in the Wall Street Journal:
Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt
The actual liabilities of the federal government--including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees' future retirement benefits--already exceed $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2011, the annual accrued expense of Medicare and Social Security was $7 trillion.
That is roughly double the entire annual Federal budget.
They go on to note that "to collect enough tax revenue to avoid going deeper into debt would require over $8 trillion in tax collections annually." Expropriating the entire income of the top 25% of households that pay almost 90% of the tax and all corporate taxes would only bring in $6.7 trillion.
I don't know it's kind of like saying "well if I ignore a few credit card bills I really don't have the debt." I feel like the creditors don't feel the same way.
Here again a little perspective goes a long way to give us some insight on this whole "Fiscal Cliff" situation.
Doug Hendee, CFP(R)
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