United States is technically bankrupt !!!

[SlipperySlope]

According to 31 USC 3101(b), the maximum debt authorized by the US Congress is $8,184,000,000,000.

However, the US Treasury reports the daily debt at http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm.

As of this moment, it is at $8,198,626,872,332.20 !

In other words, the United States has exceeded the debt limit set by congress without any legal authority.

After watching our Democratic leaders cave in on one issue after another, maybe here is one we can get them to stand firm on.

Call your senator and congressman: Tell them that the treasury has illegally exceeded the debt ceiling, and tell them to refuse any attempt to raise the ceiling. Make the current administration live within its means!!!


P.S. - I found this article on the situation:
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/TheExecutive/020206_debt.html

[fooj]

1. Nice catch!

Peace.

[laruemtt]

2. how can conservatives

sit back for this? how can they keep doing this and how the hell do we stop them?

[SlipperySlope]

15. How did they pull the wool over the eyes of...

How did they pull the wool over the eyes of their own constituents? Why aren't all the Republicans who call themselves fiscal conservatives marching down the street with pitchforks and torches? I don't understand, it's like the whole frigging world was turned upside-down!

[Ragrum]

26. Being a Conservative means you are Addicted to Debt

When some puppet lauds Bush on his epiphany “we have become addicted to oil” reply back it is you and Bush that have become addicted to debt!

[sabbat hunter]

3. not raising the ceiling

will be a terrible thing. it will cause the US to stop paying any bills, its workers and go into default. that is not somethign that you want to happen.

yes i want the deficit eliminated and the debt reduced but going into default isnt the way to do it.

[SlipperySlope]

7. I say shut the war machine down!

No blood for oil, and no money for oil. This is one vise we can slap on the balls of this administration and squeeze.

Don't let them borrow one more cent!

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. And tax the rich and the corporations. That should help some, right?

[Tigress DEM]

13. But they just PASSED tax cuts again for the rich

[rodeodance]

16. and Clinton and Schumer, amongst other Dems said AYE

[Tigress DEM]

19. Dayton too.

I'm thinking it must have been wrapped around something like fuel assistance for the needy or medicare reform measures. 19 DEMS passed it.

[sabbat hunter]

20. it will shut everything down

not just the war machine. all government workers will be out of jobs. all the debt will be defaulted. the country will slip into a depression.

how is any of that good?

[jschurchin]

27. It's not any good.......

but, this day is going to come sooner or later. How long, as a nation, can we continue to spend more then we take in before we face the music?
Imagine if you spent fully a 1/3 more then you brought in. How long would your bank, credit card issuer, mortgage company etc. etc. allow this to go on? 1 maybe 2 years you could juggle finances to "rob peter to pay paul" but eventually.............. We as a Nation have been doing this for more than 40 years. We MUST begin to spend less then we take in or we are going to DEFAULT and, Yes, it's gonna SUCK!!!!!!!

[TrogL]

41. As soon as the housing bubble collapses

Much of US domestic spending for non-essentials (or even essentials) is being paid for by people second-mortgaging or otherwise cashing in the equity of their houses at current market value. The problem is, current market value is in a housing bubble poised to collapse. As soon as it does, they will owe more than the house is worth. The crash may also drive interest rates up meaning if they attempt to finance their ballooned mortgage payment on short-term credit the rate (and the payments) will be more than they can handle. Their personal financial structure will collapse like the house of cards it is. If this happens often, it will strain the finance companies they borrowed from and we will end up with another BFEE-fuelled financial crisis that will make the previous one look like a tempest in a teapot. (all puns intended)

[SpiralHawk]

4. "Mission Accomplished" - George AWOL Bush & Cronies

"Thanks a pantload, Bushie." - The Bankrupt Citizens of the U.S.A.

[jedr]

8. But the economy is humming along!

:sarcasm:

[AzDar]

5. With the Bankruptcy "Reform " just passed, it kind of hurts the head,

doesn't it?
Freakin' HYPOCRITES!!!!

[SlipperySlope]

10. Good point!

Since the little guy is now forced into debt counseling, I say the big guy should have to do the same. Let * and his cronies spend all their time negotiating with our creditors - maybe that will keep them out of causing more trouble for a little while.

Jeez!

[saltpoint]

6. Not to mention, our ethical account is way overdrawn, too after Abu

Ghraib and the photos that shot around the world on the web of U.S.-led torture and taunting of detainees.

The next president will have a significant mess to contend with on finances.

Good post.

[sasha031]

11. have you seen this

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...


Senate Passes $70 Billion in Tax Cuts Over 5 Years


http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/r...

[Nutmegger]

12. I thought conservatives were fiscally responsible?

:sarcasm:

Nice catch though, thanks.

[meganmonkey]

14. On edit: Here's a link about it

http://hammeroftruth.com/2006/01/29/fed-debt-limit-breach-us-in-technical-default/

(i know nothing about this site, it came up on google...)

[GrpCaptMandrake]

17. We're Ethically Bankrupt, too,

not to mention Morally Bankrupt.

[BR_Parkway]

18. Well, under the 14th Amendment, that would put Shrub in violation

of another part of that quaint old document then

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

[SunDrop23]

21. I can hear it now "9/11 changed everything..."

He gets away with giving that response to everything else, so this will be no different.

[pitohui]

22. DON'T call your senators and congresscritter

how is this our issue? the programs cut to satisfy budget whiners will be the programs that go to poor, elderly, students, natural disaster victims, crippled veterans, etc. we are seeing it already

the usa is a big place, it can damn well take out a few more loans and provide for the helpless and the innocent

balanced budget tripe is the GOP's issue, why should we fight their battles as well as our own?

when you call and demand a balanced budget, i hope you will spare a moment of prayer for the sick person who will be denied medical care, the student who will be denied the college loan, the old person whose prescription drug plan is completely effed up, and the many many many katrina and rita victims still living in freakin tents or in the top stories of gutted-out homes -- some of which were destroyed thursday morning by tornadoes!

how does it matter one happy crap to the democrats whether this budget is technically balanced or not, there is nothing left the poor and victimized of this nation can give

[SlipperySlope]

23. Most of those programs are non-discretionary...

Most of those programs (social security, medicare, public welfare) are non-discretionary, meaning that if the current corrupt administration is prevented from borrowing, spending on those programs is still required. However, discretionary spending (like the war machine) would have to be cut.

I'm all for shutting down the corruption in Washington. We've been talking about making a dramatic stand, this would certainly be one!

This obscene war is costing us $100,000 per minute. The insanity has to stop!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002780385_spending03.html

[OneBlueSky]

24. borrowing to pay the interest on your debt is pretty much . . .

the definition of bankruptcy . . . we've been there for awhile . . .

[Nikki Stone 1]

25. Good Lord!

We'll be IMF'd now.

[jeannicot]

28. Anything "technically" doesn't merit

three exclamation points.

[Skidmore]

29. So, is it a good time to drop the savings bond program I participate in

at work? Is it a bad investment? Should I cash in the bonds that I can? If it were stock, I wouldn't continue to invest in an insolvent company.

[kentuck]

30. Since they have not extended the debt limit....again?

You are technically correct. The U.S.A. is bankrupt.

[AntiFascist]

33. When will the value of the dollar start to reflect this? n/t

[SlipperySlope]

38. Have you paid attention...

To the price of oil or gold or other commodities over the past six months?

The value of the dollar has ALREADY started to reflect the fact that the presses are running as fast as they can. Which really doesn't directly relate to the debt limit, other than the administration giving a giant middle finger to congress and the so-called legal debt ceiling.

[upi402]

31. accounting firm of

Drungen, Saylers,and Giancis

[Deja Q]

32. Which means ALL social programs get scrapped...

Though don't expect government subsidies for giant corporations to change...

[B Calm]

34. That is their plan. Do away with the safety nets for average

working class Americans. The cheap labor cons are salivating over the prospect of having millions and millions of desperate and hungry workers to hire as cheap labor.

[SpiralHawk]

35. Is the corporate media going to pay any attention to this at all?

Or are they going to ignore it, because it is a fact that exposes the incompetence and fiscal recklessness of the Republican culture of corruption?

[B Calm]

36. They have been ignoring the Bush economic disaster

pretty damn good the past 5 years. So I don't see any reason why they would start reporting it now!

[Burke888]

37. Our Debt

Yes I agree our debt is high, but if we legalized drugs we could save money.

[sakabatou]

39. Isn't Bush touting a 2.7 trillion budget this year?

:banghead:

[ProfessorGAC]

40. That's Not Technically BKO

You have to measure the debt vs. the asset base to determine BKO status. Geez, they own a gajillion acres of land, they own a whole city, and all the military hardware, office buildings, and the fleet of vehicles world wide. This adds up to way more than $8 trillion.

Not that i'm encouraging a selloff of land and hardware for cash. Just sayin', that this isn't bankruptcy.
The Professor

[SlipperySlope]

42. Bankruptcy is a legal concept...

Bankruptcy is a legal concept, not necessarily an absolute one.

You are bankrupt when your legally defined debts outweigh your legally defined assets. You can't just say "well, I'll sell my neighbor's house to cover the debt", because you don't own your neighbor's house. You can't just say "well, I'll sell my liver to cover the debt", because although you own your liver the law does not permit you to sell it.

The treasury has now issued more debt than it has the legal ability to cover. The treasury can't sell land or vehicles to cover it, either because it doesn't own them, or because no law authorized the sale...