Is $12.8 Trillion Even Comprehendable?
Last Wednesday, Bloomberg News published what can only be a mind-boggling number, writing:
“The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s. (emphasis added)
“New pledges from the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. include $1 trillion for the Public-Private Investment Program, designed to help investors buy distressed loans and other assets from U.S. banks. The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation’s gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.” (emphasis added)
They added that amount has increased 73% since November when they “first estimated the funding, loans and guarantees at $7.4 trillion.” Bloomberg provides a table that “details how the Fed and the government have committed the money on behalf of American taxpayers over the past 20 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”
Considering that the current federal budget is north of $3 trillion and that the Obama administration has proposed a budget of $3.6 trillion for the FY 2010 fiscal year, the number $12.8 trillion is nothing short of mind-boggling.
To see who Congress thinks will pay for it, see Michael Ramirez’s April 7, 2009 cartoon. And it’s not the current generation, either!
HT Mark Levin's reading list for 4/1/09.