Being truthful! Are most Americans one paycheck, or illness or accident away from total destruction finacially? Since the stats show that Americas credit card debt, is higher than our current American deficit. I personally own everything I have, and I have no credit card debt at all. So really, where do Americans stand finacially with this current Administration?
202119
I own everything I have-house, cars, vacation home, livestock-no debt, ZERO.\n\nThe problem in this country is that people are trained to follow the status-quo from birth.\n\ngraduate high school\ngo to college\nget a job\nbuy a car\nget married\nbuy a house\nhave children\nspoil children\ndie broke\n\nThis is the chronology of financial disaster and lifelong hardship for Americans.  This string of events forces most of us into a situation where we have to work to pay interest and taxes to keep the govt in operation.  It is a plan that the powers that be put in most tiny little pea brains to keep society producing to provide revenue.\n\nWe the people are for the most part middle class tax slaves and slaves to the bank.\n\nThe federal reserve(which is not part of govt but a private company) controls the banking and interest rates and controls the people and then buys and pays for the politicians.\n\nSome say that JFK was actually assasinated because he attempted to get rid of the Federal Reserve.  The 9 trillion debt we as a country owe, is owed to the federal reserve-they print money out of thin air and loan it to us as citizens and to the govt.\n\nUntil we start teaching the truth like this in the govt monopoly we call public schools, American citizens will continue to be indentured servants living the status quo!!!\n\nSPREAD THE WORD- NO MORE FEDERAL RESERVE
154249
Currently the US is borrowing from China and Japan.  Saudi Arabia has a fair share as well.  But I think most of the debt is privately held in bonds.\n\nIf you want to dig up a complete list, you might try to look at the federal reserve's website.\n\nhttp://www.federalreserve.gov/\n\nI cant guarantee you will find anything, but there is a very large amount of information there that most people choose to ignore.
353744
Has anyone ever considered what taxes are used for?  (besides padding the politicians wallets?)  Where do you think that the money for disaster relief comes from, where do you think the money for housing and food programs comes from, where do you think the money to pay for our emergency services comes from?  We all have a part in paying for those things.  And for those people that complain about having to take care of those that aren't able to do so for themselves at any point in time in their life.  I pray that you never find yourself in such an unfortunate situation.  So many have gotten there by no fault of their own.  There are doctors and lawyers and successful business people that were at the top of their game, but unfortunate circumstances - illnesses, natural catastrophes, etc have left them with nothing and trying to start their lives over again.  Don't be so quick to judge - someday someone just may be passing judgment on you.
160699
Most people have been scared off of this half-baked ideas for various reasons.\n\nFirst, alot of people feel very uncomfortable giving the cornerstone of their retirement to the same people who stole the retirement accounts at Enron, Worldcom, etc.\n\nSecond, there were too many foolish promises made by the President, who said people could be as reckless as they wanted and still have some minimum guaranteed amount at retirement.\n\nMy personal feeling, however, is that the government has grown too addicted to skimming off of the Social Security collections in order to hide how much in debt we truly are. The government currently works with two sets of figures, the debt amount we admit to and the total debt we really owe which is much scarier.
138916
we have this huge debt becuase the government says so, who do we owe this money to? ourselves!!! so really there is no debt, it is an excuse to get more taxes out of us!!!
400284
In Jan we'll be clear of our 10th year and we're probably a little different in that we made a commitment to never go into debt for anything, ever except for a house. It has been hard at times but now we are able to save up and pay cash for cars, etc. We have one credit card that we charge on (for security sake as I'd prefer to have the credit card company get their money stolen as they're a little more motivated) but we don't charge unless we've got the money in the bank. Our FICO is around 750 now so we're considered a pretty good credit 'risk' when looking for mortgages.\n\nThe problem with filing bankruptcy is it releases you from the debt but in many cases the bad habits are still there. If you don't deal with those the bankruptcy will only be temporary relief. The other thing we realized is that part of our problem was income related (i.e. it was too low) so I retrained for a better paying career that I thought I would enjoy. I'm really giving you a 10 year summary in 10 seconds but it really required a lot of patience. Here's a more realistic time line.\nYear 1: Painful, getting a minimum savings built up and starting to realize that our problem is behavior.\nYears 2-3: Continuing to struggle when we come to the realization that it is an income problem and start training for better career. Also start using a decent budget although we violate it pretty frequently due to some existing bad financial behaviors.\nYears 4-10: New career, better cash flow and nice savings. Start a disciplined investment plan and are now fine tuning our budget and dealing with some remaining bad financial behaviors. Working with helping others get out of debt.
76254
Holbright you and i are on the same page mostly  I believe, However the the biggest security risk that the majority of American families face in the past and currently is financial security! Different branches of government currently produce official documentation with their conclusion of the 2005 federal budget, none of them are numerically consistent and are highly suspect as to being cooked! This we do know for certain congress authorizes the production via U.S. Treasury and their is no shortage of paper and ink! The Bush administration borrowing from other country's is likely outrageous and irresponsible! Why not reform capitalism and grant open equal access instead of the establish structure in place!Sure there would have to be some rule applied to like stopping immigration,maybe price index freezing for awhile and you would not hand money to those whom lack the mental ability to utilize properly,but their welfare should be respectfully honored!Are you in favor of letting our legal citizen's control capitalism instead of the current structure?
389755
this is the first time we were trillions in debt, the whole reasons why WAR bonds were sold was to pay for the debt of the war, Back then it just was not thinkable to go into debt, now the Country goes into debt, The Average family of 4 owes about $120,000 to pay back for the war debt and tax cuts debts, (Its called the National Deficit) that out children will have to pay, but unfortunately its a proven fact, the more the country is is debt, the less REAL economic growth there is, what little there is is called (false growth). It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out if a family of 4 has to borrow 120,000 for NOTHING, in other words has NOTHING to show for it, they really are not in goods financial health, could you imaging getting hit with that type of loan, interest growing daily that you will NEED to pay back before you can start saving and be financially sound again?, Many people agree thats why the Country prospered while Clinton was in office because were were gaining a surplus, slowly getting into the black and were spending less then we were taking in.
617986
We're now working on the principle of "credits" or "points". You trade me so many points, I keep your lights on. Pretty soon we won't use cash and won't need credit cards... our financial history and information will be linked to our thumbprints (of course, we must fight against this!!) so you'll just give you thumbprint and walk out of the grocery store or pay your electric or whatever. \n\nTechnically, there are not enough bills or coins in the US to cover all the monies we use daily.
507350
You said you wanted serious answers, so I'll take you at your word. It's not nearly as bad as you think. Cheer up.\n\nYes, America owes trillions. But please remember three points:\n\n1. The vast majority of that debt is not owed to foreign nations. Over two-thirds of it is owed to the American people themselves. Everyone American who purchases US Savings Bonds or Treasury Bonds (T-Bills) is purchasing a portion of that debt.\n\n2. The American economy is worth approximately 3 trillion dollars a year. That means the US has about a two-to-one debt ratio. Putting that in micro-economic terms, it's the equivalent of someone who brings in 100k a year, and whose only debt is a 200k mortgage. Any economist would tell you that that person is doing very well indeed. Most people's debt ratio is far higher.\n\n3. The US has the lowest debt ratio of any industrialized country. No other country in europe or anyplace else has that little debt relative to the size of its economy.\n\nAs to your comments about the cost of the war. Yes, for now it's not cheap. But this is not a permanent expense. In a few years it will go away. So in the short term -- you're right -- it calls for a little belt tightening; but in the long run, it's not much to worry about.\n\nAlso, the amount of the budget consumed by all of the social-welfare programs of the US (minus Medicare and Social Security) amounts to no more than 3% of the annual budget. everyone always thinks its more; but seriously, it's a very small percentage. In Britain, social welfare costs are about 18% of the total budget. In France, about 22%; and I could go on, but I think you get my point.\n\nAs to your comments about trade. Actually, people are lining up to trade with America. America leads the world in Computer hardware and software sales. The agricultural industries of America sell to the world. While America has lost manufacturing jobs over the years -- this is not to worry, as America has transformed itself into the first Post-Industrial society, providing services to clients around the world that earn American companies hundreds of billions every year.\n\nAnd finally, yes, oil is a problem. But it's not just America's problem, it's a problem for everyone else as well. The greatest challenge of this century is going to find the substitute for the world's addiction to petrolium. But here's the good news. Because America has one of the strongest economies on earth, It's Americans who will have the greatest resources to come up with an answer. And that answer having been been found, will make Americans even better off tomorrow.\n\nDon't believe all the bad news you hear on the news. Remember, people in the media want ratings points. And they don't get viewers by concentrating on good news -- only bad. There's plenty of good news out there. Trust me.\n\nHope this answer helps. Cheers, mate.
528492
In the entire history of USA till now,there is no instance of the national policy  tuned to the needs of the world. rank selfishness and constant opportunism, in the guise of opportunities has been the sole guiding principle. if no opportunity exists for USA,they will perpetrate destruction of other nations and in the name of re-construction,create opportunity for themselves. If u don't want to repay debt u are a defaulter and may be declared insolvent.But when USA does not want to repay its liabilities to others,a new principle of accountancy has been invented in the form of freezing of assets. However there are millions of right thinking individuals in USA, who contribute their mite individually and collectively for the benefit of mankind especially in times ofnatural calamities. Perhaps the unbridled free market economy and uncontrolled profit motive,with a citizenry more interested in spending rather than saving,as if there is no tomorrow in crass consumerism are responsible for the malady.
15892
As of Today the Department of Public Debt says the Amount of Debt owed by the U.S. is $8,165,647,324,627.69\n\nIt won't be paid by us but it will probably come due for our children.
567256
I think that this is great. I am a full time student. I also work full time, and have seen the era of no child left behind leaving alot of our young minds behind. As far as the minimum wage, this is a great thing. The minimum wage has not risen since 1997. I wonder who was the president then? Also the current administration has risen the national debt more then any president in US history.
118493
Basically, when the amount of money we're spending on things like social services and wars is more than the amount the government is getting from taxes, they need more money to pay the people providing the services.  So they borrow money from private business and other nations (we also lend money to other nations) to pay the difference.  They also borrow money from private individuals in the form of government bonds (this is when you buy basically a piece of paper, and in a fix number of years they'll pay you back with a fixed amount of interest).  When they borrow money from someone, they will then owe them money (i.e. they will have a debt).  Since the debt belongs to the government, which represents the nation as a whole, it's called the National Debt.\n\nThe National Debt is currently at a record high.  At the end of Clinton's presidency (i.e. 2000), we had a record surplus (when the government has money left over - sort of like a negative debt).  Many economists argue that a small national debt is actually good because it keeps businesses tied to the government and the government acountible to the public (I happen to think they're right about this), but a large debt generally means that we have become dependent upon foreign loans, and it puts our government programs in danger (because they may not be able to afford to keep them going).
280134
I don't think its Americans.  Its our government. I'd say the majority of Americans want to take care of our own.  But our government seems to have other ideas.  Should we say they are un-American?  I feel ya.
489213
Do you know that this is where schools fail us. If only they could explain/teach us about debt and what it can do to us then maybe we would understand how to excercise self control. \nI have spent 20 years in debt and am proud of the fact that i have paid it all of(last October) and am now debt free. BUT, and it is a big but, i want a new tv, maybe a 37 inch lcd hd ready one to hang on the wall and i have credit cards, overdraft facilities and no savings! What would you do, get credit .....NO, save money, learn that the only money that you can spend is money you have earnt or saved.\nPlease dont fall into the trap of debt/borrowing money etc ..it can kill you, if not literally then just in spirit and mind.\nBanks and lending organisations should be held more accountable if you ask me.
218480
I have been talking about this a lot to the father of my children, who is constantly complaining that "everyone" else has more than we do. I point out to him that we have plenty of food, shelter, clothes, two beautiful, healthy children, entertainment on some nights....We really lack for nothing...Granted we are considered to be well below poverty level based on our income..and can't fly off to Europe....But as I tell him, Look as the victims of hurricane Katrina, or the tsunami victims...read "Angela's Ashes...We have it great! I think part of this syndrome has to do with what is shown ot us on T.V....everyone has nice cars, they go out and by great flat ware and whatever and we think that this standard of living is normal the world over. We Americans are very blessed and need to realize it!