An Arithmetic Lesson or Do You Remember Common Sense? | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Here is a Blog Posting from 12/12...

    Have you looked at my Credit Card Statement? There I go being silly again. Of course you have not looked at my Credit Card Statement but, more to the point, have you looked carefully at your Credit Card Statement?

    My last Credit Card Statement has a dire warning in it for me. Yours does to. Allow me to direct your attention to your Credit Card Statement's Dire Warning...

     Mine tells me my new balance is $1,902.
     It also warns me, if I make only the minimum payment each month and do not buy anything more with the card, it will take 20 years to pay off the remaining balance after deducting the minimum payment each month.

    Did I just hear you say to yourself, "I'll just get a few more credit cards and get my stuff with them"? I wish I had not heard you say that to yourself.
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    Are my numbers too small to make an impact on you? Let's try some actual big numbers from one of our country's states.

    This state has Unfunded Pension Liability of $83,000,000,000...     Otherwise known as 83 Billion Dollars otherwise known as 83 Thousand Million Dollars
    Do I see you starting to fog over at my attempt to get you to be concerned for this state's predicament? Allow me to try again using this same state's numbers.

    As of the end of September this silly state has $6,000,000,000 in Unpaid Bills...
    Otherwise known as 6 Billion Dollars otherwise known as 6 Thousand Million Dollars
    There are other states in similar dire situations and their "leaders" don't seem to be concerned either.

    How could any official in any of these states not be in a state of panic? Panic is nowhere to be seen because. As Senator Foghorn Leghorn would say to us...

    "Why, son, don't you understand that we have a lot of votes to buy and it's about to be Football Season again, son, by golly, I say again, Football Is Right Around The Corner! It is incumbent upon us to direct our attention to Football!" ------------------------
    Now would you like me to go on and put together a similar analysis of our Federal Governments fiscal situation? I can't do it. My computer does not have enough words and numbers inside it to do this Untenable, Unsustainable, Unbelievable situation justice.

    Just for a moment think about this one point. Can you even imagine how much Interest we are paying? Are we even making the Minimum Payment on this Federal "Credit Card" Bill? Even if we are making the minimum payment, it does not make the Fella feel one bit better.
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    I'm exhausted and you are tired of me so I'll close with this...         Our Federal Debt is $ 16 Trillion and growing every minute.
    Did I just hear you say to yourself, "Sixteen isn't that much"? Think about it this way...
    $16 Trillion Is Sixteen Thousand Billion Dollars!
    Our debt is growing at more than $3.5 Billion a day and that's a lot of much.

    Did I just hear you say to yourself, "3.5 isn't much? Why that's not even 4"?

    You know, sometimes I wish I did not have the gift of being able to hear what you say to yourself.

    Would I kid u?
    Smartfella

    Lagniappe: August 2, 2017: The above blog was written in December 2012. Now our Federal Debt is 20 Trillion Dollars. I could get out my calculator and massage $20 Trillion for you but my calculator is exhausted.