The 2012 budget year for the federal government ended on September 30, 2012 leaving each and every one of 314,576,911 people in America (as esmitated by the Census Bureau on October 14, 2012) in debt for $51,072.54. According to Treasury Department figures, the National Debt on September 30, 2012 was $16,066,241,407,385.89 and on September 30, 2011 it was $14,790,340,328,557.15, indicating an increase in the National Debt of $1,275,901,078,828.74 - or $4,055.98 for every man, woman and child in America. Recent reports in the news cite government estimates of $1.1 trillion for the 2012 deficit, but it is likely that the government and news agencies lack a super computer capable of the advanced arithmetic such as the one I used. It is also possible that the $1,275,901,078,828.74 was rounded down to $1.1 trillion using new political math.
Many people will feel that an increase of $4,055.98 for their share of America's debt is substantial, but it is only about 34% of $11,854, the total amount spent by the federal government on behalf of each and every one of the 314,576,911 people in America. The federal budget for 2012 was $3.729 trillion, or 23.6% of GDP. The $11,854 is only what your generous federal government spends on your behalf. Don't forget how much your benevolent and compassionate state and local governments spend to take care of you.
I happen to live in Richmond, Virginia. The 2012 budget for Richmond is $1,447,745,909. The 2012 budget for Virginia is $39,567,009,510. The Census Bureau has published estimates for 2011 indicating that Richmond has a population of 205,533 and Virginia has a population of 8,096,604. Using my super computer, I am able to calculate that Richmond spends $7,043.86 for each resident and Virginia spends $4,886.86 for each resident. By adding what each level of government spends on my behalf, I have determined that the total federal, state and local expenditure on my behalf totals $23,784.72.
It's not just me that has $23,784.72 spent for them. Every human being in Richmond, Virginia has $23,784.72 spent for them. A family of four living in Richmond has $95,138.88 spent on their behalf, whether they live in a $2,000,000 mansion or a $5,000 trailer, or whether the family income is $300,000 per year or $23,784.72. How grand our governments are. After all, I could never afford to buy a drone complete with missiles that I could assassinate suspected evil-doers with anywhere in the world! Hell, I'm broke most of the time. How could I afford to bail out some poor tycoons that have had a run of bad luck? Just think, if it weren't for government, we'd all be dead because there would be no Agriculture Department, so how could anyone grow food? Even if you could stay alive eating bark, you wouldn't know anything because you wouldn't be able to read if there were no schools. You wouldn't even have any place to live because who would issue building permits?
Besides, racking up all this debt isn't really such a big deal because it will be your kids and grandchildren who end up paying it off. Just remember that we Americans are doing all this for them in the first place, right?
This article contributed by Tom Blanton of Richmond, Virginia.