Brace for an avalanche of unfunded debt
The public doesn’t know about these awesome liabilities because the totals appear only in actuarial estimates. As Chris Cox, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Bill Archer, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, recently noted in the Wall Street Journal, the real annual accrued expense of Medicare and Social Security alone is $7 trillion. The government’s balance sheet does not include any of these unfunded obligations but focuses on the current year deficits and the accumulated national debt. Cox and Archer reported that the annual budget deficit is only about one fifth of the more accurate figure.
If the American public saw our financial statements in the same way that public companies report their pension liabilities, it would clearly see the magnitude of danger represented by the future borrowings that these liabilities to an aging population imply—borrowing on a scale that would not only bankrupt the programs themselves but the entire federal government. And to a worrying extent, we are locked into continued escalation by the fact that social insurance programs, as well as other mandatory programs, carry payments that are in accordance with automatic formulas written into law and are not subject to an annual spending limit. Today, less than 40 percent of our budget is actually decided by Congress and the president, down from 62 percent 40 years ago.
If we continue in these irresponsible ways, an eventual reckoning cannot be avoided.
Blowback
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all is well if we ban high magazine clips!
rob verdi on December 31, 2012 at 8:33 AM
The economy is burning, and Congress is fiddling away.
Wanderlust on December 31, 2012 at 8:35 AM
Over the hoiday’s I bought a Glock-17 and ordered an AR-15, and I joined the NRA. All firsts for me.
I actually feel paranoid – and I am not afraid to admit it.
Oh yeah – I also bought a gun safe – lessons at a local gun club – and membership at that club.
Wow – I can’t believe I did all that – what the hell ????
jake-the-goose on December 31, 2012 at 8:38 AM
And the schmucks in DC think that raising taxes a lot is going to fix this mess. The only thing that will fix this mess is cutting spending and entitlements dramatically. We can do it now in an orderly fashion or we can do it later in a crisis.
No doubt we will wait until the bond market calls bs to our debt load. Then the dollar will collapse and we will get to find out what Hyper Inflation is all about!
PierreLegrand on December 31, 2012 at 8:51 AM
Practice Practice Practice and remember all the rules of gun safety…
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET
Course after you learn all of those rules check out these rules…
Top 10 Gun Safety Tips:
10. Always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction. Such as at a hippy or a commie.
9. Dumb children may get a hold of your guns and shoot each other. If your children are dumb, put them up for adoption to protect your guns.
8. No matter how responsible he seems. Never give your gun to a monkey.
7. If guns make you nervous. Drink a bottle of whiskey before heading to the range.
6. When unholstering your weapon. It’s customary to say “Excuse me while I whip this out”
5. Don’t load your gun unless you are ready to shoot something or are just feeling angry.
4. If your gun misfires, never look down the barrel. Have someone else do it for you.
3. Never use your gun to pistol whip someone. It could mar the finish.
2. No matter how excited you are about buying your first gun. Never run around yelling “I HAVE A GUN. I HAVE A GUN.”
1. And the most important rule of gun safety. DON’T MAKE ME MAD!
PierreLegrand on December 31, 2012 at 8:58 AM
jake-the-goose on December 31, 2012 at 8:38 AM
Better to have it and not need it and need it and not have it.
rob verdi on December 31, 2012 at 9:02 AM
And what’s beyond it, especially if you have a FMJ round chambered.
Steve Eggleston on December 31, 2012 at 9:05 AM
If I am wrong for laughing at those tips, then I don’t want to be right.
BigGator5 on December 31, 2012 at 9:10 AM
Mr. Zuckerman is right. We’re on the financial titanic. To correct it, we need a mixture of raising taxes and cutting spending. Thats the pragmatic way. Now which of the two legacy parties are going to admit it? Neither. They keep chanting their silly mantras that protect their sacred cows. Meanwhile, nothing gets done. The problem keeps growing, and very soon, it’ll be out of reach to correct. Unless the stupid politicians on both sides stop squabbling like adolescents.
tommy71 on December 31, 2012 at 9:11 AM
Yeah, but at least they got themselves a raise in pay. Not they’ll work harder serving the public!
Mimzey on December 31, 2012 at 9:12 AM
Not = Now
Mimzey on December 31, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Some rules have been missed.
1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.
7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.
9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. Have a plan.
13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work.
14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
16. Don’t drop your guard.
17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.
19. Decide to be aggressive enough, quickly enough.
20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
21. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a “4.”
22. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
24. Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Washington Nearsider on December 31, 2012 at 9:15 AM
Oh, and these.
MASSIVE list, so I won’t copy/paste, but I recommend a visit.
There are some gems.
Washington Nearsider on December 31, 2012 at 9:15 AM
If the government is telling me an estimate of $87 trillion today, you can bet it’s easily or will grow to/beyond, at minimum, 2 – 3 times that …
ShainS on December 31, 2012 at 9:16 AM
They say ‘more than $87 trillion’ the same way we say a Blackhawk can do ‘at least 35 knots’.
Washington Nearsider on December 31, 2012 at 9:25 AM
FIFY Mort … and BTW, it’s too late to change course now — we are far beyond the tipping point, and in fact are accelerating away from sanity faster today than at any point in the past.
“Momentum can be deferred, but it must always be paid back, in full … as I once said to Walter, physics is a bitch.” — William Bell (the character played by Leonard Nimoy, in the fourth episode of the second season of the television show FRINGE)
ShainS on December 31, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Heh.
ShainS on December 31, 2012 at 9:28 AM
I’ll just remind here …
The GOP had control of the White House and all of Congress for six years – they could have changed these stupid-assed budgeting tricks and didn’t.
And the reason they didn’t – is because those tricks are used by BOTH parties to re-enforce the power of the beltway elite.
HondaV65 on December 31, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Risk losing the standard as a world currency? Are you NUTS? If that happens it will not matter how many guns you have and how trained you are to live out in the woods off the land. This country will become a 3rd world country over night.
watertown on December 31, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Raising taxes is pointless…the debt service alone is $360 billion per year and it is only that low because we are keeping interest rates artificially low. We take in a total of $5 trillion in revenue…we need to cut spending dramatically.
PierreLegrand on December 31, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Not sure you understand what I am saying…cutting spending is the ONLY way out of this mess. Cutting spending a LOT and no one in this country has the balls to do that. So that means we will take the other path of collapse and hyperinflation…or the other way around.
PierreLegrand on December 31, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Epic fail. We’re totally screwed.
Paul-Cincy on December 31, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Bet Mort voted for Obama again…
albill on December 31, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Let it Burn, Add Fuel and fan as needed.
astonerii on December 31, 2012 at 10:41 AM
More accurate third party non government professional actuaries put it in excess of 210 trillion and likely more than 250 trillion.
astonerii on December 31, 2012 at 10:42 AM
For a real fun look at where we are going check out Kyle Bass’s speech.
Kyle Bass founded hedge fund Hayman Capital in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. He made millions betting against the sub-prime mortgage bond market – and now he’s betting on the collapse of whole countries in Europe. He is known for his pessimistic views on the global economy and for accurate bets on different asset classes.
PierreLegrand on December 31, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Brilliant analysis Mortie, but where the hell were you with this 4 months ago? You know, BEFORE you were busy endorsing Obama over the guy who would have rationally attacked this problem? You knew damn well what was coming then, as well as you do now, and this article is only serving as your future arse-covering when the shiznit really does hits the fan. You’ll be able to point to this and conveniently squeel “BUT I KNEEEEW, and I WAAAAHRNED YOU ALL…” Yet when you had the chance to actually do something about this–to use your influential position to make a difference, you fell in with the other media sheeps and slobbered all over Obama’s knob just like everyone else in your pathetic industry.
You frickin’ coward.
AttilaTheHun on December 31, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Zuckerman needs to STFU. He is one of Barry Hussein’s leading apologists and court jesters and has been giving the Great Man Lewinskys under the table for years. With his Messiah safely re-elected, he’s now Mr. Speaking Truth to Power? Forget you, jackass.
Travis Bickle on December 31, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Articles like this emphasize the notion that we sailed over the cliff a long time ago. We’re simply in free fall, waiting to hit the ground.
Washington continues to fight over pennies and live in total denial. Frankly, so do the rest of us. The article names 2055 as a final stopping point, but we all know that budget impacts would be huge way before then. If even 35% to 50% of the budget was used to service the debt, it would leave almost nothing for national defense or entitlements.
At some point in the near future we’re going to have bond sale issues. Later on, the middle east will announce they will no longer conduct sales of oil in US dollars. It won’t be much longer after when the world stops using dollars as the reserve currency and dumps them on the market. Values go down, prices skyrocket and we’re in a huge mess.
You’re best bet is making sure you owe as little to other people as possible and insulate yourself against any government services as best you can.
Scary stuff, but we all need to examine the big picture because it will hit like a freight train.
Flashwing on January 1, 2013 at 6:01 AM