House Speaker John A. Boehner has done the dizzying math: “In the nearly four years since Senate Democrats last passed a budget, government spending has driven our national debt up past $16 trillion. That’s more than $52,000 for every man, woman, and child,” he says.
Mr. Boehner has suggestions on what people could do with an extra $52,000, based on exacting consumer costs gleaned from federal statistics, pollsters and other sources. One could buy an annual NFL season ticket - for the next 67 years, for example. The amount could also cover groceries every week for the next seven years, or home maintenance for the next quarter-century. The money could cover all car maintenance, gas and insurance for five years.
On the practical side, the taxpayer could put a down payment on a house, pay down a mortgage, pay the rent for the next four years, pay off personal debts and student loans or start up a business.
“It’s time to focus on the real problem here in Washington, and that is spending,” Mr. Boehner says, as he has said plenty of times.
