Who or what exactly is the biggest holder of the U.S. Government Debt?

[BlueStreak]

19. Great point.

It isn't that people wouldn't put their money into Tbills. The problem is that they are paying virtually no interest. The Fed has backed itself into a dogmatic corner -- the same corner that Japan suffered in since the early 1990s -- where these idiots have this abiding philosophy that money supply will solve the problem. No. Money supply only solves a MONEY SUPPLY problem. We have an economy that needs direct investment in infrastructure work, immediate construction jobs, etc.

Cutting interest rates to zero doesn't incentivize very many people to open new businesses. You don't open or expand a business just because money is cheap (and not terribly available). You expand your business when you see CUSTOMERS. That is the only way out of this mess. Our economy is 70% driven by consumers. We need EMPLOYED consumers. With all this talk about "the cliff, when was the last time you heard anybody say a single word about getting unemployment down to 5%. Austerity doesn't do that. Cutting Social Security doesn't do that.

Obama has completely lost control of the conversation. Again. Or maybe he just doesn't care. He has had plenty of opportunity to talk about the real issues and instead has chosen to play the "Cliff" game.

Another thing about those artificially low interest rates -- which have done practically nothing to boost the economy -- they are killing seniors. Many seniors have some savings that they diligently set aside to go along with their Social Security and any pension they might have. For generations, the advice to investors was to reduce risk as you approach retirement. That means shifting to interest-bearing instruments. But now there is virtually no interest -- actually NEGATIVE interest rates when you account for inflation. So we are cutting their Social Security on top of killing their savings. We have the wrong people in charge of our economic system.