Digging the Hole Deeper
But bilge pumps? Wouldn't you think some kind of pump that's designed to keep your boat afloat in case it starts sinking would make the list? Shouldn't a bilge pump be life-saving priority numero uno?
Nope, and for a very simple and revealing reason:
"There is no more efficient bailing device than a scared sailor with a bucket."
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America's financial market is in danger of sinking. The credit crisis is so severe that the proposed "bail-out" is considered an emergency action ... not to save the big shots on Wall Street, but the little guy on Main Street.
Here's the catch: by heaping another $700 billion burden on top of the budget, the national debt will approach $11 trillion (that's eleven thousand billions) to be repaid by taxpayers. So where is this extry $700 billion in bail-outs gonna come from?
Our government will borrow the money it needs to save our finance and credit markets from other countries. So our $11 trillion debt figure doesn't include interest. You know, like you pay on your charge cards every month for carrying an outstanding balance after buying all the things we're entitled to as Americans.
$11 trillion dollars of debt is outstanding indeed. So let's not call it a "bail out" or even a "rescue."
"Digging the debt hole deeper" better describes what happens when countries, like people, live beyond their means by spending money they don't have and keep borrowing on credit to spend even more.
Rather than stop spending, and start bailing.
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You can calculate the share to be plucked from your purse or wallet by dividing 11 trillion dollars by about 60 million people ... that's a rough estimate of the number of citizens actually paying taxes in the US.
But you might wanna sit down first.
