Interesting chart

[archimedes]

With all the political talk about the US debt obscuring the facts.  I found this chart interesting

http://www.offthechartsblog.org/what%E2%80%99s-driving-projected-debt/

[Native_NM]

Say a couple buys a house on two incomes.  A few years later, mom tells dad she wants to quit working and stay home with the kids.  Dad says "its gonna be tight, but if we cut back on a few things, we can make it.".  Both mom and dad agree, and mom quits.  A few years later, they have racked up a huge credit card bill and are on the verge of losing everything.  Is it mom's fault or dad's fault?  Does Citibank care?  Maybe dad could post a graph that shows if mom had kept working they wouldn't be in such a big hole....

[rwanders]

  I could accept the need to raise taxes if the Congress and Administration could be trusted to maintain even a little fiscal discipline and actually pay down the debt. However our history demonstrates that the attitude will, instead, be to tell themselves, and us, look we have all this new income so we can start up some new "programs" and expand the old ones. Congress will not be capable of saying "no" to their opportunity to build some new monuments to themselves, to payoff the voters with their own money to ensure their re-election, to continue to act irresponsibly in the childlike belief that basic economic principles can be ignored without repercussions. 

It's our (voters) failing too---if we continue to act like parents who cannot say no to the children we send to Congress and the Whitehouse, we will be complicit in the whole ridiculous circus. They have consistently demonstrated that the institution cannot, will not, resist the urge to buy votes with public monies----it has always been democracies Achilles Heel--recognized as such even as we were writing the Constitution. As soon as we realized we could vote ourselves money from the treasury we were soon addicted to it and like all addictions, there is no limit to our "needs" for new and bigger fixes----voters resisting new "programs"?--no problem!, just expand it so more voters are able to share in the "free money" and the game can continue.

[archimedes]

I agree.

But "monuments" built to get re-elected can also look like tax cuts that are not paid for,  and glorious wars that are not paid for.

My only reason for posting the chart was to cut through the polical BS and show how/why the current debt exists.  The pols are salivating at the chance to "save" us from this terrible "crisis"  -  the one that they created (with the complicity of the American voters).

[Native_NM]

The only real solution is a balanced budget amendment, which includes all current, future, and off-balance sheet expenditures.  

The media blame game is just chaff to keep the masses distracted while the coffers are plundered.  

[rwanders]

   Unfortunately, all we hear from the Donkeys is; "We just need to raise more revenue, no need to cut any expenditures." All we hear from the Elephants is; "We just need to cut spending, no need to raise anymore revenue."

........and the music plays on, so let's keep on dancing.