National Debt

National Debt To Increase By $9 Trillion Over Next Decade, $4.8 Trillion Just In Interest Alone

Nov. 19, 2009 | Jeanne Sahadi | Posted 11.20.2009 | Business


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Here's a new way to think about the U.S. government's epic borrowing: More than half of the $9 trillion in debt that Uncle ...

A War Tax: A Strategic, Fiscal and Political Imperative

Paul Abrams | Posted 11.06.2009 | Politics


Paul Abrams

Without a draft, and without a war tax, 99.9% of Americans do not have to sacrifice at all to continue the war. It is too easy for war to become, for 99.9% of us, more like a video game played out on television.

Why We Need Even More Stimulus

Robert Reich | Posted 11.08.2009 | Business


Robert Reich

2009-11-05-reich2.jpgObama must return to Congress for more stimulus spending. Here's how he should sell it.

Big Pork at the Government Trough -- Again

Wayne Pacelle | Posted 10.26.2009 | Green


Wayne Pacelle

The public no longer wants a combination of financial bailouts and government deregulation. But Congress and the U.S.D.A. never seem to have gotten the memo when it comes to Big Agribusiness, especially the pork industry.

Lobbyists Urge Lawmakers To Raise Country's Debt Level

Jenna Staul | Posted 11.10.2009 | Business


Some of the nation's most influential lobbies are urging the Senate to lift the nation's debt limit above $12.1 trillion, reports the Hill. An associ...

Pork Industry Bailout Request Full of Fat

Wayne Pacelle | Posted 10.19.2009 | Green


Wayne Pacelle

Our government actually bails out the pork industry when it overproduces and buys up volumes of surplus pork, typically by dumping these surplus commodities into our nation's schools and food programs.

Banana Ben Strikes Again

Michael Pento | Posted 10.16.2009 | Business


Michael Pento

The world's reserve currency can't inflate its way to prosperity. The danger of causing a disorderly decline of the dollar is very high.

An Open Letter to Warren Buffett on Health Care: We Need You!

Dr. Paul Toffel | Posted 09.20.2009 | Politics


Dr. Paul Toffel

Mr. Buffett, you're not in the health insurance market, but this might be the opportunity to bring your successful Berkshire companies to the table, to help solve the major issue of our time.

Income Inequality: Can We Tax Our Way Out of Trouble?

Alan Schram | Posted 09.16.2009 | Business


Alan Schram

The top 1% of incomes in the country paid 40% of all personal income tax in 2007. You might think this is fair, and maybe it is. However, higher taxes on the top income will spawn a different problem.

Geithner Asks Congress To Increase Federal Debt Limit

Reuters | Posted 09.08.2009 | Business


U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it coul...

Will The U.S. and China Ever See Eye-To-Eye?

Julie Farby | Posted 08.29.2009 | World


Julie Farby

To show the world we're not going to risk relations with our favorite creditor on account of a couple of crushed Uighurs, Obama dropped the whole human rights spiel in favor of sports!

The Weird Have Turned Pro

Garrett Johnson | Posted 08.24.2009 | Business


Garrett Johnson

The amount of money required to bail the world out of the current economic crisis, if this crisis plays out at a historical average, is nearly equal to all the private wealth currently in the world.

The Green Sprouts of Recovery and the Party Spoilers

Michael de Portu | Posted 08.23.2009 | Business


Michael de Portu

In this recession, it is unnerving how little attention has been devoted to how American manufacturing firms have been affected.

Politics Like Cancer

Sen. Fritz Hollings | Posted 07.19.2009 | Politics


Sen. Fritz Hollings

Politics is like cancer -- if you don't catch it in time, you don't have a chance. If the budget deficits and deficits in jobs from offshoring are not caught now, by 2012 we'll give it back to the Republicans.

Thank You, Bill Maher, For Asking Where in the World is Barack Obama and What is He Going To Do About Healthcare?

Anne Dunev | Posted 07.17.2009 | Politics


Anne Dunev

Most decent people cannot conceive that anyone would profit from knowingly harming others. That is the flaw in capitalism. And that is one reason that evil can exist.

The National Debt: Another Finanical Crisis in Slow Motion?

Jill Schlesinger | Posted 07.05.2009 | Business


Jill Schlesinger

The so-called "rich" can't be taxed enough to mitigate the coming wave of inflation, nor will increasing taxes on them pay for everything that's currently on the table

Selling T-Notes to China

Eric C. Anderson | Posted 07.04.2009 | World


Eric C. Anderson

Washington is engaged in a seemingly hopeless mission -- convincing our creditors that Treasury notes are still a good investment.

Paul Krugman Is Wrong on Inflation

Sheldon Filger | Posted 07.01.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

I never thought I would witness the day when Paul Krugman and Dick Cheney agree on economic policy.

Washington's Grim Economic Prospects

Eric C. Anderson | Posted 06.27.2009 | Politics


Eric C. Anderson

Over the last year Iceland, Ireland, and Spain have been confronted with diminished credit ratings. Could the same thing happen to the United States?

Is the United States too Big to Fail?

Sheldon Filger | Posted 05.30.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

There is no such thing as "too big to fail." That applies to countries and empires as well as companies. The United States of America included.

A Simple Solution: A National Debt Moratorium

Alex Abella | Posted 05.20.2009 | Business


Alex Abella

I propose a national debt moratorium to freeze all payments of debt to financial institutions for a certain period, to allow debt holders to be able to raise a cushion of cash and prepare for future economic turmoil.

Ben's Un-shrinkable Balance Sheet

Michael Pento | Posted 05.15.2009 | Business


Michael Pento

It's not only the size of the fed's balance sheet that is so daunting; it's the makeup that's becoming truly scary.

Do You Know Which Countries Hold America's National Debt?

Mark Nickolas | Posted 05.01.2009 | Politics


Mark Nickolas

While Treasury doesn't breakdown the oil producing states which hold American debt (together they are in third place), that group includes quite a few pariah nations.

National Debt Hits Record $11 Trillion

Politico | MANU RAJU | Posted 04.17.2009 | Politics


The eye-popping national debt surpassed $11 trillion Monday, the largest in U.S. history. The new Treasury Department figures on the national debt w...

Now and for the Long Run

Sen. Fritz Hollings | Posted 04.16.2009 | Politics


Sen. Fritz Hollings

The government, like households, must hunker down, stop spending where it can, and plug the hole of offshoring jobs in the ship of state.