Thursday, June 02, 2011

Mark Steyn On US Debt



Mark Steyn on US debt.

With what passes for erudite leftist commentary in the comments section.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but I gotta provide some erudite leftist commentary. The US debt is 14.3 trillion, not 140 trillion. Now I know, I know, facts and numbers are inherently left-wing, But I thought I'd give it a shot.

BallBounces said...

BigRed. Thanks for the erudite comment. You're right if you are talking federal debt. Mark gets to the 140 mark by adding in state and municipal debt.

http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/3999/26/

"Once you add in state and municipal debt, you need to add a zero to that reassuringly familiar $14 trillion hole. The real hole goes ten times deeper: $140 trillion — or about twice as much as America’s total “worth.”"

Don't know if his figure is accurate, but the point is, the aggregate debt is beyond easy human comprehension.

Dance...dance to the radio said...

The left/right argument is being played out in real life right now between Quebec and the Rest of Canada.

I know there's a lot of Conservatives in Quebec who feel orphaned by the election results. Hang on a little longer because it took us eighteen years to get this far.
You could always move.

I think concentrating the socialists in one jurisdiction will demonstrate their policies in action that much sooner.

BallBounces said...

Quebec is a socialist state that expects someone else to pick up the tab. Fits nicely with the NDP.

Thucydides said...

Lets not be smug here.

The federal debt is still $500 billion, and there is another $500 billion in unfunded liabilities(mostly pensions). Now lets add the Provincial debts and unfunded liabilities and Canada is in a deep hole as well...

BallBounces said...

Thuc: I think it's more "let's be scared" than "let's be smug". If the US fails, it's going to take a lot of countries down with it.

"... nothing intellectually compelling or challenging.. bald assertions coupled to superstition... woefully pathetic"