The Stoos

The 8th Commandment says, thou shall not steal and this is in part why we have laws against fraud.  For example, you cannot start up a new business, borrow say a million dollars, and then sell stock in the new company without revealing the fact that you owe this money in your financial statements. *

Of course, as is the case in SO many areas, our government exempts itself from such requirements as clearly demonstrated by this piece from USA Today, which is by no stretch of the imagination a right-wing conspiracy publication!  I guess the numbers are getting so bad that even they had to take note.

The average American family has not followed R.C. Sproul Jr.’s simple Biblical advice to work hard and spend less than you make, now owing an average of $116,057 for their mortgage, car loans and credit card debts.  That is a big number, but at least many have a home or other real estate of value to show for that debt.  What may come as a shock is the fact that “their” government has run up an even bigger debt bill which now averages $561,254 per household.  BUT WAIT, some will cry, I thought out national debt was only $15 trillion which would be about $120,000 per family?  This is bad enough, but a far cry from over a half a million dollars of government debt obligations!

The difference as the article points out comes with the fact that the government is not tied to those accounting rules that try to keep things honest in the private sector.  The Federal government needs to have about $22 TRILLION set aside today just to cover the obligations they have for Social Security, in addition to the future taxes that will be collected.  But,unlike that million dollar loan I mentioned above they do NOT have to disclose this debt obligation.  How do they get away with this other than being politicians who think they are above the laws that the rest of us have to live under?

The technical, and very chilling answer if you are personally counting on social security or other promises from the government, is given in the final paragraph:
“Jim Horney, a former Senate budget staff expert now at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says retirement programs should not count as part of the deficit because, unlike a business, Congress can change what it owes by cutting benefits or lifting taxes.  ”It’s not easy, but it can be done. Retirement programs are not legal obligations,” he says.”

That is not Congressman Paul or Peter Schiff saying that the federal government is playing ‘hide the pea’ but a liberal think tank!  Of course if we all just bite the bullet and send in our $561,254 checks to cover our part of the debt all would be well, except for the fact that Congress would likely spend all the money AGAIN, just like they did with the first $20+ trillion!

It was a bit shocking to see such an honest story in a major paper and I suspect that they may lose their prime seat in the White House press room over this one.

In the Lamb,

John