A Coming Economic Earthquake?

images-3With the “fiscal cliff” looming, I rather like this comparison of the federal budget fiasco currently underway to a typical family budget that a friend recently showed me.

US tax revenue  $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget  $3,820,000,000,000
New annual debt  $1,650,000,000,000
Existing National debt $16,000,000,000,000
President Obama’s budget cuts          $4,000,000,000

Remove 8 zeros and view this as if it were a regular household budget:

Annual income   $21,700
Money the family spent   $38,200
New debt on credit card   $16,500
Outstanding credit card debt $160,000
Total budget cuts so far          $40

Pathetic.

So, for all the posturing and criticisms going back and forth between Republicans and Democrats, the net affect of the proposed budget cuts (over 10 years, no less!) is negligible to the point of being meaningless.

Well, I’m feeling depressed motivated now. And depressed, too. Perhaps it’s too late to avoid the “coming economic earthquake”. Hey, someone really should write a book with that title. 

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Author: Bob

Martin’s Mercurial Musings began when I started asking deeper questions related to my Christian faith. Matters of faith became confusing and I was baffled at the disparity of doctrines beliefs given that Christian work from the same “source material” (aka the Bible). How can there be so much variance as to what Christians believe? Or more importantly, where is the truth? That which I thought I knew and believed – well, I’m not so sure anymore. Although born in OH, I grew up in Tucson AZ. After college, a job offer lured me to Eagan MN where I worked in process development at a semiconductor chip manufacturing facility over the next 40yrs. I’m now in the “Buick stage” of life (retired) and currently reside in FL. In no specific order, things which make life more enjoyable include coffee in the morning, making sawdust in the garage, roughhousing with the grandkids, playing various fretted instruments, participating in online chess tournaments, growing fresh tomatoes, and an occasional IPA. In addition to my musings on Christian faith and Calvinistic doctrines, I also like to write about my experiences in the Coast Guard along with various news, political and social items of interest. I’m truly delighted you’re here. Feel free to poke around and comment as you wish. I value the insight of others with a different perspective and welcome cordial discussions regarding any disagreements.

4 thoughts on “A Coming Economic Earthquake?”

  1. To be clear, Larry Burkett wrote a book entitled “The Coming Economic Earthquake” that I read years ago – long before the current situation could have even been forecast. The book paints a bleak picture of runaway inflation which happens to a nation that fails to control its spending and, in my opinion, is quite relevant to today’s feeble attempts by the President and congressional leaders to deal with the so called fiscal cliff.

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  2. Per Derek Hunter, a columnist at Townhall.com:

    This “cliff” is a creation of government that came into being because those in Washington couldn’t accomplish the simple task of being remotely responsible in the past. Those same people are now desperately seeking to avoid the simple cuts they agreed to just a year ago. Only they can’t even agree with themselves.

    These politicians of both parties still have no plan, and most have no desire, to deal with the real fiscal problems facing the nation – out-of-control spending and the crushing national debt. The automatic sequester cuts they desperately seek to avoid are but a drop in the bucket that collects drops to make drops in the bucket of government spending.

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  3. about other doctrinal issues that divide people and churches. Really enjoying your posts! By the way, I know how many points you are. But I won’t spill the beans. Haha!

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