$18 Trillion and Counting
As millions of Americans were racking up credit card debt on Black Friday, the federal government published its own revised debt figures. The balance sheet reveals that the U.S. has officially accrued more than $18 trillion in debt, or 103% of GDP. The feds spent nearly as much money in one day as Americans doled out during the post-Thanksgiving spending spree. Zero Hedge reporter Tyler Durden says, “[D]ebt held by the public rose to $12,922,681,725,432.94, an increase of $32 billion in one day.” Contrast that with a report from Bloomberg showing four-day consumer spending was just over $50 billion. We saw a lot of things Friday, but “black” wasn’t one of them – more like deep red. Barack Obama, who once called George W. Bush’s deficits “unpatriotic,” is making his predecessor’s spending habits look downright thrifty. According to Durden, America’s “debt has increased by 70% under Obama, from $10.625 trillion on January 21, 2009 to $18.005 trillion most recently.” That’s change you can believe in. More…
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