President Obama announced his 2011 Budget which is $3.834 trillion dollars with a projected deficit of $1.267 trillion or 8.3% of GDP (gross domestic product). As of Feb. 7, our total national debt was $12,348,804,540,946.54 or $12.35 trillion which is larger than the economies of China, the United Kingdom and Australia combined.
The national debt is growing with the spending spree in DC. According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, our national debt will grow an additional $9 trillion over the next decade, to more than $20 trillion. During that time, the United States will accumulate $2.5 billion in new debt each and every day. That’s $1.72 million per minute, for the next ten years.
According to the Department of the Treasury, foreign holders of our national debt are owed a combined total of about $3.3 trillion. As reported by the Treasury Department, the top ten countries and entities holding U.S. debt are: China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Oil Exporters, Caribbean Banking Centers, Brazil, Russia, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
The Treasury Department estimates that our debt to China is approximately $776.4 billion, having grown more than $240 billion in the last year. That is more than $10,000 in debt for the average American working family---just to China.
The estimated population of the United States is 307,795,997 so each citizen's share of this debt is $40,146.02.
The National Debt has continued to increase and that is before Congress tacks on trillions for health care, cap and trade, new federal stimulus programs, and other yet to be identified spending programs.
Part of the way President Obama plans to pay for his new round of spending is to eliminate the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts families making more than $250,000 per year which impacts a ton of family-owned, small businesses which are the backbone of our economy and nation.
No wonder Americans are squeamish about tax increases at the state and local level. In Washington, lawmakers are considering raising taxes to fill a $2.6 billion hole in the current state budget. While $2.6 billion may seem like pocket change in light of the federal budget, it would take a two-cent sales tax hike to fill---IF lawmakers rely solely on taxes to cover the gap. A one-cent sales tax produces about $1.2 billion a year--depending upon how much we spend for cars, clothes, appliances and other goods.
Hopefully, Gov. Gregoire and our legislators will "Connect the Dots and Do the Math" by looking at ALL taxes the private sector employers and working families are faced with. Remember employers, whether they are small business, companies the size of Boeing, hospitals, schools, non-profits such as museums, and charities such as Goodwill, have already seen their unemployment and workers compensation taxes increase this year.
Don C. Brunell, President (DonB@awb.org)
