One final thought that brings me to the intensifying issue that we have written about several times before — the explosion in Treasury debt outstanding. Since September 30, 2008, Treasury debt has risen from $10 trillion to $11.9 trillion, a rate of $5 billion per day. There is no end in sight for this out of control debt growth, as reflected by federal government deficit forecasts, which we consider optimistic, that total between $7 and $9 trillion for the period 2010 to 2019. In our March 2009 Letter to Shareholders, we estimated that US Treasury debt would swell to between $14.6 trillion and $16.6 trillion by the end of 2011. If we stay on this present trend, we should reach this range which, in our opinion, is outrageous and fiscally irresponsible. This insanity is not a Democratic Party or a Republican Party “thing.” Both parties are responsible, but who is ultimately more responsible than these two parties? It is we, the citizens, who keep reelecting these power-centered financially inept politicians and it will be our children and grandchildren who will have to “pay the piper.” It is not right and is morally reprehensible that one generation would do this to another.
Our country is currently in this financial mess because consumers, corporations and government succumbed to the temptations of excessive spending, debt growth and risk taking. Just as any family or company can get into trouble with too much debt, so can a state or country. California is a perfect example of a state government that has been devoid of economic reality and totally irresponsible in its finances, with spending far exceeding revenue growth for years. Our federal government also exemplifies this unsound and unwise trend. Before new expenditure programs are created and laid upon preexisting ones, we should be demanding that federal, state and local governments get spending under control first. We cannot trust most politicians because they practice “bait and switch” tactics in proposing new programs. The true long-term program costs are always understated because new benefits are added subsequently that were not included in the original optimistic cost estimates — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are perfect examples of this process, and the proposed new health care spending program, if passed, will likely follow this same course.
Read the complete report
Our country is currently in this financial mess because consumers, corporations and government succumbed to the temptations of excessive spending, debt growth and risk taking. Just as any family or company can get into trouble with too much debt, so can a state or country. California is a perfect example of a state government that has been devoid of economic reality and totally irresponsible in its finances, with spending far exceeding revenue growth for years. Our federal government also exemplifies this unsound and unwise trend. Before new expenditure programs are created and laid upon preexisting ones, we should be demanding that federal, state and local governments get spending under control first. We cannot trust most politicians because they practice “bait and switch” tactics in proposing new programs. The true long-term program costs are always understated because new benefits are added subsequently that were not included in the original optimistic cost estimates — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are perfect examples of this process, and the proposed new health care spending program, if passed, will likely follow this same course.
Read the complete report
