We all know about the $16 trillion national debt. Now it turns out that when unfunded liabilities are added, the debt increases to more than $80 trillion. That certainly qualifies as the “big picture” and looks impossible to deal with. So let’s focus instead on a smaller picture: our annual deficit.
Annual expenditures exceed annual revenue by about $1.3 trillion. President Obama wants to squeeze $1.6 trillion out of the wealthy over 10 years. That would bring in less than $200 billion per year in additional revenue, dropping our annual deficit from $1.3 trillion to $1.1 trillion. But the Democrats don’t want to cut any costs. In fact, they — and certainly Mr. Obama — want to increase the spending level. So nothing will get done.
Perhaps we should focus instead on a smaller picture. How about the murders of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya?
DENIS ABLES
Vienna
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'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
By Susan Crabtree - The Washington Times
President Obama forgot to return the salute of a U.S. Marine while boarding Marine One Friday morning, then came back out to shake the Marine’s hand, according to a tweet by CBS News’ Mark Knoller.
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times
House Republicans who are critical of the federal health care law have written to more than a dozen companies, including top insurers Aetna and BlueCross BlueShield, to ask if President Obama’s top health official tried to solicit funds from them to support the overhaul.
