@Glare: How many countries actually expect to get that money back anyway? We are like that one friend that everyone has where they borrow money from you and you know that you're never seeing that money again.

A more likely approach at knocking a bit off of that number would be to negotiate deals with the countries that we owe money to to pay off our debt in other ways besides money. Considering we give aide to so many countries, there has to be a fair amount of that total that can be wiped out by calling it even with countries we have helped in the past.

ceilingFANBOY

time to sell all our nukes and then nuke the country for possesing said nukes

everyones happy even the people we nuke cuz theres a 50/50 chance they were flash fried during a happy moment

rezin khanz

@Glare: Considering we are funding our military with borrowed money, I'm thinking that approach wouldn't work so well.

cmaceachen

Wasn't it Clinton that turned the last deficit into a surplus? ... why would we vote for McCain again?

stackedrecords

AH, this is nothing. We really get in trouble when the monthly payment on the national debt exceeds the amount of money the government can print in that month. THEN and only THEN we are in trouble.

Poon

*Pinky on lip*
$700 Million dollars...

ripfire

@Glare: LOL!

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@Glare: Considering it's China that we owe a fair chunk of change to, I don't think that approach would work.

stackedrecords

LOL, seems like another Y2K issue!

Joseph

@stryker1800: The beatings shall continue until morale improves...

GarciaConcern

The best part is, this is pocket change compared to what we're in for if we don't fix social security.

unibrow4o9

Holy shit, 10 TRILLION?!!!! WTF?!

I mean can't we just say.. "you know what other countries that we borrowed money from.. fuck you, we could destroy you with our army in an instant.. so let's call it even or else"?

Glare

lol i went to a gallery opening the other day right next to this sign...took a photo with it even. oh man, we're all doomed.

theorieofself

@unibrow4o9: thats a perfect way to improve national morale levels

stryker1800

@Dancing Milkcarton: Sorry, I was in denial.

matt buchanan

When I read that I though it was not so bad, $700 million, $100 million, that's a piece of cake. Then I remembered it was billion.

stopcrazypp

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: Agreed. I propose a bill to make room in the budget to replace all national debt clocks. Should run a few million, but it's a small price to pay for knowing how much money we don't have.

unibrow4o9

Million, hahahha. I WISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

efenili

Hey Matt, that's $700billion.

Dancing Milkcarton

We just need a bigger clock. Problem solved!

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

$700 Billion... way worse.

edcrosay

That should read billion, not million - right?

HeyBeav

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: but we need to make sure this clock lasts
so rather than just numbers we need a giant high def screen so that we will be able to just decrease the number size over time

and it needs to be made of high grade materials as to avoid the need to rebuild one. we can't just piss away our money into a sign that will break in a few years

jozen

@Lite: Really? That's a lot of money...

...Okay then... Seven.. Hundred... BILLION DOLLARS!

ripfire

@unibrow4o9: It already has a fix. They'll stop paying it. Period.

SSI was not supposed to ever be your retirement fund. It was supposed to help out those who truly needed it or they would be homeless.

As the average life expectancy has risen, the retirement age has not....

Lite

@ripfire: Billion dude. Billion.

Lite

@stackedrecords: The surplus was gone as he left office, and the economy was already well on its way into recession. I'm not saying Bush helped much, but there's really only so much one can do as President to affect the economy.

While I revile Bush's politics, I understand his "The economy is strong." rhetoric. The economy isn't completely screwed, most of us are still employed, still have jobs, still put food on the table. The average unemployment for the country is under 10%, and nowhere near the 30% we saw in the great depression. But much of his wording, is to keep the general populace from panicking and doing something stupid, like a run on banks. Because, that really WILL fsck up the economy in no time flat.

If the bank that your company uses goes belly up, they cannot make payroll, pay bills, anything. In most cases if a bank fails, it isn't the average person's money that's hurt. It's their ability to get paid.

It wouldn't matter who was president right now, they'd still be selling us a sh*t sandwich with a smile and speech about how nutritious it is. Even the Fed has to be careful about what it says, because its every word affects markets and causes people to panic.

A few years back the CEO of Sony said their stock was over-valued, and it dropped like a rock overnight. When economic times were good!

Lite

eck! doom and gloom, funny how the government tells us we should better manage our financial well being + made it harder for regular joes now to file bankrupty and yet here they are bailing out these big greedy corporate companies that were peddling sub-prime loans and doing risky financial dealings, Seriously the government need to start practicing what they're preaching.

Costing us 10 billion a month keeping our military in operation on the whole Irag shennagians, and government fleecing is still very much alive with them paying $30-$50 bucks for a box of pencils that would normally cost $5 dollars at your local store, and the most pathetic thing is seeing our own GOVERNMENT borrowing money from other countries/Allies so they can pay their bills here in the states.

I say a big Government Shake-Down is in order, get rid of everyone in there and start over with a new way operating seriously, before we become a Third-World country and CHINA ends up being the new super-power overall..

Darksider1972

@unibrow4o9: Now, now. Let's not be so frivolous with the little bit of money we have left. I propose we form a committee to study the feasibility of your proposal. We'll also need input from several engineers and scientists to explain to us in big words how these new, larger national debt clocks will be constructed and how they will measure our National Debt with Swiss-like accuracy. All of this will be fully documented for posterity in several handsomely bound leather volumes, entitled 'A Theoretical Study For Accurately Charting The Cyclical Progression of The National Debt of The United States of America' with the sub-title; 'Damn That's a Big F*cking Clock!'

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@ceilingFANBOY: The vast amount of US foreign aid comes from private sources, especially over the last 8 years.

cmaceachen

@stackedrecords: Sure did. I remember that. *sigh* That was so... nice.

And lets not forget that 700 billion ended up being 840 billion by the time it passed, and is estimated to be something like 2 trillion once all is said and done. Yep, those republicans sure know how to shrink government and be fiscally conservative.

cmaceachen

@Darksider1972: I agree with everything you just said, except for us borrowing from "allies." China is a trading partner. Not an ally. Our only allies are the people we give aid to, and even they don't like us, much.

And yes: Roust the bums!

DeusExMach

@stackedrecords while I, too, am not for McPain, balancing the budget does not mean we have no debt. Check this out. [www.cedarcomm.com]

dingwall1

@redkamel: Hell, I'm just looking forward to a president who reads something other than "Highlights for kids".

DeusExMach

@jozen: An HD NDC.... hey I like where you're going with that. Hell yeah, this is America dammit. Land of the SUV's and big ass TV's.

So would this HD NDC be cable ready? Cuz that's gonna be a whole other committee...

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: Heh... Back when my father worked for the IRS he told me about how they once spent like $3 million dollars to combat inter-office mail theft. Their solution was to put locks on mailboxes. The $3 million was just for the study...not the locks.

I grew up in a household with both parents employed by various federal government entities. Everything from the US Army to the IRS to HUD to the US Marshals. I remember cutback after cutback, and my parents cringing each time praying they wouldn't lose their jobs. Just like any other person who fears for their job. My parents made more money, had bigger raises, and went through fewer job cuts under Clinton than they did under Reagan, Bush, and Dubyah.

They are diehard Democrats. Because that was who kept them employed, and allowed them to raise their children/put them through college, etc.

Lite

@rezin khanz: That's the problem with lowering math test standards in schools: People start seeing "50/50" as an acceptable score.

DeusExMach

@DeusExMach: No, he'd do it with frik'n lasers!. There's a difference.

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@cmaceachen: Boy, it sure was a good thing that Republican president Ronald Reagan initiated Reaganomics back in the 80's, and forecast a 15-year effective date for it to start paying back a surplus, and Oh! Hey! Look at that: right on schedule. Know what we can do with all that money? Lower interest rates on big loans! EVERYONE GETS A HOUSE! YEEEEE-HAAAAAAW!!!

DeusExMach

@ripfire: whoa, whoa, whoa, waitafuckin'second...

...are you telling me that Dr. Evil wanted 1/7th of the debt that we Americans have just taken on?

...jesus, paying off that bald bastard would have been a bargain.

Dr. Evil for President in '08! I'm sure not only could he fix the current debacle we're going through, but he'd do it using "lasers".

DeusExMach

@cmaceachen: Estimates are like statistics. They're pulled out of your ass at random when they're useful. A very good number of rabid democrats that I know were rabidly screaming at me to write my congressperson (a Dem) and urge them to pass the measure.

A good number of Republicans were very angry at needing to pass this bill. A very large number of them didn't pass the 840 billion version.

Dems are just as guilty about this financial mess. Hell, I don't like McCain and he even sounded a warning about Fanny/Freddy 2 years ago and was ignored.

Lite

I hope Obama reads the Consumerist and its "get out of debt" guides...

redkamel

@aj8321: Never mind, I thought you were talking about the clock. It read "billions" in the article when I read eat.

aj8321

@HeyBeav: No, TRILLIONS !!!!!

aj8321

@Lite: GENIUS!!! You deserve a medal or National Holiday named after you or something like that. No wait, those cost money and in case you hadn't noticed we're a little short on that around here. You'll just have to settle for a firm hand shake and pat on the back. Great Job!

Anybody got a Best Buy flyer around. We need to see what's on sale...

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@DeusExMach: I dunno. Ask Dr. Evil.

Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude

@Julien321: It won't be counted as "debt" because the government doesn't consider stealing from its citizens a "Debtor/debtee relationship".

DeusExMach

The debt doesn't include the $700 billion. Also it will not be counted as debt since it will be used to buy mortgage backed securities which are assets. They will almost certainly be sold for more than the $700 billion in the future. Also the debt clock has ran out of numbers before and had to be replaced by a newer one.

Julien321

@DeusExMach: It always amuses me that one of Clinton's big welfare reform programs was borrowed from Reagan.

I'm don't worship Reagan, but at least the man was likable as a person when he wasn't busy being a president.

Lite

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: Just buy a ruggedized version of the 150" Panasonic. High enough def to add more numbers as needed.

Lite

@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...: So, what's the difference between frik'n lasers and "lasers"?

DeusExMach

I Thought It was Trillions!

danielmakman

This is why we shouldn't count in decimal.

In fact, if I was the lawyer representing USA in the equivalent of the a creditor knocking on my door, I would use this argument to annul my debt.

Cobol_Mongol

Man, the LCD's outdated technology. Go with LED or even OLED signs. Then you can add zeros to your hearts content....

Waita minute...

Damage

@ Lite

actually the economy is really really screwed... and the main reason it is, is because we as Americans don't manufacture enough goods... hell we almost make nothing here anymore.

A strong economy is based on actually manufacturing products to sell. And all we create anymore are credit card bills that we can't pay off... try exporting that and see where it gets you.

Our credit based economy is killing the nation... If we really want to stop whats happening we need to go another direction... less credit and better wages which we will only get by becoming a manufacturing society again.

dOk

Pfft. Money is nothing but digital 1's and 0's anyway. So we can always make more!

Turael

it is, 10 trillion.

thedarkhorse

It's going to be ok, McCain is working right now on a national debt clock bailout package which includes tax cuts for those living near the clock.

Nick_Bentley

@Lite: So then why does such a large chunk of my money go to social security every week?

unibrow4o9

I like George Carlin's ideas on the national debt. He says "fuck em dont pay it" LOL
RIP

Strider-No.9

@stackedrecords: That was largely done by borrowing more money at much lower interest rates, also known as debt refinancing. So a balanced budget didn't mean a smaller national debt. In fact the national debt increased by a large percentage under Clinton.

GiltProto

I thought that happened a long time ago.

br4nd0n

USA:
National Dept: 10.1 Trillion
GDP: 13.7 Trillioni

-yep, you are screwed.

krom

I have a feeling China will buy the US very sooon.

citizen024

I thought it was Bazillions!

EricAlder

What, no Y2K like scare stating that the United States is going to blow up when the clock turns over?

kwicherbichin

What was that date that south american civilization said the world would end on?

Lupison

@stackedrecords: That was called the bubble...

UnderLoK

Ok so let's keep bombing other countries, sure it costs a lot of money but then we get to steal their oil and natural resources... that make sense right?

Dr.Blip

Err, meant to type financial.

DisposableInterloper

Can't we just have the government seize the fininacial market in its entirety, nationalize it, and then exonerate every debt holder? The fat cats on Wall Street are rich enough. Why should the government give them even more money? If anything, they should be paying for their own fuckups out of their own pockets.

DisposableInterloper

wait. . .if I'm looking at that clock right, we should be able to rack up 99 trillion dollars in debt before needing a new clock, correct? Last I heard we were still nowhere near that. . .

moonphrogg

So many Europeans, heart-warming.

(yep, it's billions in Europe.
10 billions, 148 milliards, 835 millions,815 thousands ,976 dollars. But in the US there's no milliards, so the number reads as 10 trillions, 148 billions, 835 millions,815 thousands ,976 dollars, and I suspect it's just Americans being illiterate with big numbers.)

sharpfang

@DeusExMach: ahh yes but were also taught that anything between 0-4 is rounded down and 5-9 and up is rounded up to 10

we could flip aways coin...assuming another country is willing to lend us one

rezin khanz

@moonphrogg: look closer

japroach

IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!

...Sorry.

Wolfess

@sharpfang:
Actually, Americans have a long scale. We just use "thousand million" where you would use "milliard." There's no illiteracy there, just a difference in scale and language.

Of course, in practice, the short scale is used, where such nonsense is dispensed with in favor of just applying the next Latin-derived numerical prefix for ever three orders of magnitude, ie "million" to "billion" to "trillion" to "quadrillion" and onward. It's handy enough that even the UK adopted the short scale.

In other words, take your sense of smugness and shove it.

DisposableInterloper

@Julien321: And who will buy them?

Bitstuff

@Lite: While I revile Bush's politics, I understand his "The economy is strong." rhetoric. The economy isn't completely screwed, most of us are still employed, still have jobs, still put food on the table. The average unemployment for the country is under 10%, and nowhere near the 30% we saw in the great depression.

Yeah, but this isn't far from over, rather it is only the beginning. My argument against denial and the still strong argument is simple: it leaves people less time to prepare!

Bitstuff

@Poon: Haha, brilliant.

Don't you worry though, Bernanke personally is making sure that those machines remain well-oiled.

Bitstuff

Ouchies!

DJTripleRRR

That's what you get when Bush runs the country. The National Debt has almost DOUBLED since he took office. Clinton basically stopt the debt from rising.

[www.cedarcomm.com]

Worst thing is the US will drag the rest of us with it.

This is what happens now: Obama will come out with a plan, get the debt thing under control. US citizens will have to pay for this, obviously (the money has to come from somewhere). Then a lot of dumb morons will hate Obama for it and switch back to Republican the next election. And the debt will doulbe again. Either that or McCain wins and the debt will double again even sooner.

Herman