This is crazy! 20% of the budget is spent on the department of defense. 15% of the budget is spent on interest on the national debt. That is 35 % of the budget is spent on none progressive things.
Raymond
Saturday, January 24, 2009, 02:06 pm
Hi,
I am Prairie Fox from utah and I am doing a speech on the budget. This website has helped me out. I wish you had more graphs. I wish that we weren't in so much debt. Hopefully later, in the future, we will be able to say we have a surplus of money.
Prairie Fox
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 04:27 pm
It is insane for our government to keep spending money like this. The federal government is insolvent at this point. The United States will be bankrupt in a few years if we do not do something now. I urge anyone that reads this to write to your senators and representative to push legislation for a mandatory balanced national budget.
Brent J
Thursday, March 26, 2009, 06:31 pm
its so amazing!!!!!!!!
bre - erjohsnon089@yahoo.com - http://www.kowaldesign.com/budget/comments.html
Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 05:11 am
i think that we have to give money to get money that is how we are going to help the economic
decarlos - vdot_vinnymac@yahoo.com
Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 05:32 pm
1. When do we need to pay the debt back? We have had a deficit for more than 200 years and I would just like to know when the bill is due.
To answer my own question, the answer is never. The American government has no intention of paying off its debt. The debt is limited, however, by the absolute amount of dollars held by foreign governments which limit them to how much debt they buy. This is only possible because the dollar is the global reserve currency.
2. How can a government go bankrupt when it doesn't borrow foreign currency.
3. Because the US dollar is the reserve currency of the world, every single dollar sent abroad as a trade surplus, for example, must be recirculated back into the US by purchasing American debt. They have nothing else to do with the dollars if they want to make a safe return on their money and keep their exchange rate competitive.
John Wilkins - jmwilkins0622@yahoo.com
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 09:17 am
Every time the federal government has run a surplus, we have had a recession or a depression.
For those who want a balanced budget, here is a history lesson:
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929.
1998-2001: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 9%. Recession began 2001
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell - rmmadvertising@yahoo.com - www.rodgermitchell.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 05:55 am
Saw your comment, "The debt is limited, however, by the absolute amount of dollars held by foreign governments which limit them to how much debt they buy."
Not exactly true. The process is this:
1. The government creates unlimited amounts of Treasury securities out of thin air.
2. The government sells these T-securities to domestic an foreign buyers, who send the U.S. government U.S. dollars.
3. The U.S. government sends these U.S. dollars back out to domestic and foreign economies, to pay for goods and services.
4. Recipients of U.S. dollars use some of them to buy more T-securities from the U.S. government.
And on and on and on in a never-ending cycle. Thus, the "same" dollar can be used over and over to buy more and more T-securities.
However, all of this became unnecessary in 1971, when we went off the gold standard. Now, instead of creating unlimited T-securities from thin air, the government simply can create money from thin air, and omit the borrowing step.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell - rmmadvertising@yahoo.com - www.rodgermitchell.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 06:04 am
Yes, I would like to see how much we spend in Federal Gov. wages, benefits, perks, etc. I think with all the employees that work for the Federal Gov. there should be a break down on this as well. I know that we must spend millions if not billions of $$ on the budgets of each Senate and House Rep. in their own budgets getting the Chief of Staff and the Staff, etc. along with all of their perks. And the different Departments of Whatever and their staffs. Not to mention the President and his Chief of Staff, Cabinet and their budgets. I think the American people would be surprised to see the total of this amount. If the taxpayers are losing jobs, why is the Government??
Thanks.
Diana L Foster - dlfoster@mchsi.com
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 04:39 pm
wow...our national debt is really depressing to watch. :(
katie - netnaviop@att.net
Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 12:42 am
This website helped me tremediously in my economics class. I had to write a paper on the ferderal budget and I have gotten most of my stuff from your webpage. It was very easy to understand as the budget isnt always! Great job!
Jaime
Saturday, May 16, 2009, 07:19 pm
The government is really bad. It seems like most people in the government do not know what they are doing. I was able to create a 114.7 billion dollar surplus and I have a C in ecnonmics.
Jim Nunamaker
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 05:56 am
Take the fed out of free enterprise. cut all tax down to 10 r 15% for all. put school back in the hands the local community. let the smart CEOs run biz. if biz makes money jobs , lasting jobs are created. Put the individual back on top. do away with the welfare state. and the IRS ; give them there hat at the door. then and only then will you see the US stand up in its true form. 200,000,000 voters did nothing. you are losing your freedom! YOU ARE LOSING YOUR KIDS FREEDOM!
terry mcwilliams - tunesink@yahoo.con
Sunday, May 31, 2009, 11:51 am
If Andrew Jackson could end the national debt, then so can we!
MD
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 09:14 am
We should lower the highest numbers and increase the amount we spend on education.
Education should be the top priority.
JH & SR
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:16 am
Aha We Fixed It!
3803 Billion!!!!
I Eli Trevino Fixed It!!!
And Maddy Diaz
E.T. and M.D.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:22 am
this is awesome
vlkp
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:26 am
The budget is high and I don't know if it will help us
A.T & T.O
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:27 am
We could balance the budget by spending less money for the war and instead spend it on other departments.
M.C. and B.T.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:27 am
I think people should pay.
tnnd
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:28 am
We think that in order to decrease national debt citizens and the government should spend money on things they NEED and on important progressive issues.
R.J. & A.H.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:28 am
stop spendiing so much money on unessecsary things.
tnkt
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:28 am
GREAT WEBSITE ITS A WONDERFUL WAY TO LEARN THE SPENDING OF THE GOVERMENT!!!!!!!!!!
AC & EP
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:28 am
Our opions are that the U.S. government should lower the Executive Office of the President. It would help our budget alot.
JK and VN
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:28 am
We could decrease the national debt by decreasing the amount reasources that we use by the most minimal then we can live in a better world.
SR & FL
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:29 am
You should stop looking for ben landen and pay attention to more important things like the American citizens.
M.L., S.S
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:29 am
Today i think the government is making horrible and unconstitutional expences when they could be using that money on useful things like education and eficiant energy souces.
god bless america
brandon shank - hockyhocky11@aol.com - myspace
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:30 am
We like your site and this is one of the most interesting site ever we beat this game twice and we think it is funny to make US in debt.
JL & CT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:24 am
yes we ended national debt. yes, we had a surplus of around 300 billion dollars. our opinion was that if america has more presidents like Obama, the surplus will be fix in the near furture.
CL AW
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:25 am
I was able to end the National Debt. Anybody can do a better job than Bush.
CA and JS - stolanjonathan@yahoo.com
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:28 am
yes we ended national debt. yes we had a surplus 316.2. it was awesome.
MN AH
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:28 am
no
no
its hard.
ks gd
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:28 am
We think the site is cool.
Im hungry
kh rh
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:29 am
lol we had no clue that there is so much to the debt of the united states
rr st
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:30 am
Yay we ended the debt with a surplus of 3.4 billion dollars it felt awesome ending the national debt.
BNLD
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:30 am
yo, this website is the bomb yo! this budgeting system is out of this world yo. it helped me get do a report for school, yo. the president should use this website for the resession yo!
A.N. & A.B. - c0d4pro@yahoo.com
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:30 am
Ask for money from China.
DH JM
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:31 am
this is fun
KH SN - sophiango24@hotmail.com - www.kowaldesign.com/budget/comment.html
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:31 am
help clean environment
dont buy things that we dont need
CP DN
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:31 am
I would balance the budget by ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I would also put more money on healthcare.
LC NT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:31 am
we liked this website very much..we know the US can end debt..
DCBG AND VP
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:33 am
Yes we ended the national debt. There wasn't any surplus. Ending the national debt is harder than it looks.
KC EB
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:57 am
We did not end the national debt. Yes, we have had a surplus, and it's about 500 dollars. Our opinion on ending the national debt, is that they should because we wouldn't have to owe anyone anything and be free to spend our money anywhere else we need it to.
MLCL
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:58 am
Yes, we ended the national debt.
We did not have a surplus, at 0.0 million.
I think that this a lot of meaning!
K.B. & K.D.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:58 am
It should be balance and not be unbalance for the surplus
The surplus should be 946.2 $ Billions
JPS
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:58 am
1) yes, i did end national debt -_-
2) no, there was no surplus
3) It can be evened out T__T
VQ and CT
Your mother
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:58 am
we didnt end the national debt. we had lots of surpluse like 249. i think it will help the country.
DP MG
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:58 am
we lowered and highered the disitributation to other departments to end the national debt. We have no surplus. We should steal money from mexico
to pay off the nation debt
VQ, CT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
We got only 2000$ as debt.
Our surplus was also 2000$.
We think that we did a pretty good job helping the economy out of the national debt.
JT,CD
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
Yes, we did end the national debt.
No, we didn't have a surplus
Our opinion about the national debt is that it is bad, and we should be spend more money on us!
KH and KT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
1. We did not end national debt yet, we did not have enough time.
2. we had a surplus it was estimated up to 3 million dollars.
3. I think it would be good
b.s. a.r.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
WE BALANCED THE DEBT. We have a surplus but dont know how much.
ev
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
Yes! We did end the national debt. No, we did not have any surplus at the end. The surplus was Zero, after we balanced it. Our opinion is that we really think that they should follow what we also did.
AT, KN
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
I ended the national debt by making the money balanced, so I do not owe the bank
No, I balanced the money to 0 billion so I do not have a surplus.
My opinion is that the debt is unfair
K.N. and C.R.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
Yes, we ended the national debt. no, we did not have a surplus because we had 0.00%.
GP & JT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 12:59 am
Yes we ended the national debt. We had no surplus. I think that we should be spending more money on educaction because if students learn more in school they will perform better in life and make new discoveries that can make our lives better, we should spend more one energy and the environmane as well.
M.D.
T.I
Anonymous
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:00 pm
-yessir
-nooopppeeeeee...!
-IT'S NOT GOOD..!
SF
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:00 pm
Wow! The amount of debt we owe is more than 11 trillion. ;'(
LN & JH
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:47 pm
no we did not end the national debt.
no we did not have a surplus,and we owned money..
if we did stop the national debt.
d.v. and a.o.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
this website hepls us learn about how much money we spend on the u.s.a
ns and ar
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
yes we have ended the national debt with 3.3 billion dollars. Our opinion is it was fun to end the nation debt.
AT and KL
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
My partner and I have ended the national debt. We did have surplus averaging at $4.6 billion. I, MB and BT, think that we should try and pay off our debt. Ending the national debt would be good for all Americans, maybe ending some conflict between us and people we owe money to.
MB & BT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
yes i ended the national debt
no, i did not have surplus
I think that we should cut money on the war in Iraq
M.R. and J.J.R.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
DEAR READER ,
WE DID END THE SURPLASS DEBT. IT WAS VERY I GUESS POINTLESS. WE DIDNT REALLY DO MUCH BUT TO BALANCE IT. WE DID BALANCE IT THOUGH. I THINK THE NATIONAL DEBT WAS OKAY. HOW MUCH WAS BALANCED.
K.D. , A.T.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:48 pm
we had ended the national debt and had gone a 44.7 surplus. I think that having a national debt is a real trouble. It is never good to be owning money. I think that ending the national debt is a good idea because we don't have to pay money and have money for spending for things we need.
JI and TR
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:49 pm
Yes we ended national debt. We did have a surplus of money, which could go towards other crucial departments. the surplus was 7.5 billion. Ending the national debt would make the economy more stable.
M.M. and K. P.
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:49 pm
We ended the national debt & we had a surplus of 14.3 billion. My opinion about the national debt is that it should end already.
AT & LH
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:49 pm
The government shouldn't make people pay extra taxes because they're in debt. If the government wants to get out of debt they should make schools have more fundraisers
Rj & Kg
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:49 pm
I did not end the national debt.
lyna nguyen
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:50 pm
Yes, we ended the national debt. Whoohoo no surplus :D I think we should totally try harder to end the national debt. Ohmygoodness. I think we should spend more money on public education. CommitToTheFuture!(:
CN & ND
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:50 pm
yes, we did end the national debt. our surplus was 1.5 billion dollars. Ending the national debt is not easy work in real life. it would really kill the people in our economy. if we think economy is bad right now, it would get worse and people are already suffering. but it has to be done and sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do
kbsg
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:50 pm
Yes we did enjoy the debt. Yes , we did have a surplus. Our surplus was 9.7 billion. We are all happy that we don't have to worry about debt
TD & MB
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:50 pm
WE DID NOT END THE NATIONAL DEBT. WE DID HAVE A SURPLUS OF 1.5BILLION DOLLARS.
WE THINK THE NATIONAL DEBT IS VERY POINTLESS. THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT BE SPENDING MORE MONEY THAN THEY ORINGINALLY HAVE.
JNDT
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:51 pm
first of all thanks for asking my opinion, since i'm awesome i ended the national debt. i had no surpuls but we don't need it.now that we ended natoinal debt don't spend anymore gm./
Lilcrazyfoo -Rt & Gm
Thursday, June 4, 2009, 01:51 pm
20% of our Federal taxes going towards national defense may seem rediculous, however if you consider that accoording to the Constitution, providing for a common defense of its citizens is one of the only powers granted the Federal Government. I think its crazy that we're spending 80% on things other than national defense.
Mike Bruno - mpbruno1@cougarmail.com
Friday, June 5, 2009, 04:55 pm
The spending on the military pales in comparison of recklessness to the cost of medicare and social security: 1.5 trillion combined costs.
Yes, the defense budget should see some cuts of personnel and new procurement, so long a s development of new technology continues, but it can't be removed or you destroy the country's ability to defend itself.
Medicare and social security need to be fixed by being given only to the truly needy: the old and the crippled. Food stamps need to be left at the state level and so does public housing.
With these things cut, we can begin to pay the debt which will remove the interest. If this isn't done, not only will there be cuts in medicare and especially social security in the future, they will no longer exist at all and we will be crippled and defenseless.
Reason: Nobody will be willing to buy bonds and the interest on the debt will be more than could possibly be brought in by taxes.
It is either moderation now, or none in the future. Take your pick.
DH
Thursday, June 18, 2009, 10:20 am
I thought this would be a lot easier than I would expect. To balance the budget would require us to give up a lot of status quote, i.e., world superpower and world police force.
Shawn Johnson - g21g21g21@yahoo.com
Thursday, August 20, 2009, 05:42 am
I do not understand how the Congressional members feel they have the right to spend more money than we have. This should be a federal crime. Where is a balanced budget amendment when we need it to force Congress to stop spending money we don't have. What are we going to do when the Federal Debt is $20 Trillion or $30 Trillion? It will be there soon if we don't put some controls on Congress.
Sherwood Elkind - sherwood@na-ps.com
Monday, September 14, 2009, 05:54 pm
After reading the comments from 2005 to now has just proved that our society is doomed, unless we stop acting like immature children who have everything handed to them wihtout giving a single thought to others. The budget is a huge issue but in order to fix it, we need to grow up.
Anonymous
Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 12:53 am
Hi my name is Jeffrey and this website is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!!! Thank you for this opportunity. I balanced the budget real good and am thinking about running for a government office to help with our debt. You creators of this site are an inspiration to my life. Thank you so much ill be back soon i hope.
Jeffrey Haggard
Jeffrey Haggard - jhagg97@yahoo.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 07:36 am
I'm glad they don't have a site with the data for an AVERAGE US citizen. Showing income and debt. I'm fearful there would be little difference from our government. What's your debt as a percentage of annual income?
Ken - me.kenny@gmail.com
Friday, November 20, 2009, 11:27 am
The government is far from insolvent. It's all about debt ratio to growth. As long as the economy grows even slightly and we grapple with spending controls to at least balanced budgets in the near term the debt. Remeber we are currently at ~38% debt ratio. That is slightly under the average since WWII. Reform future outlays (SS, etc.) now and keep the economy growing and spending in the emergancy near term will be absorbed.
Robert - locker@yahoo.com
Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 01:47 pm
Put an end to entitlement programs!
Lo
Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 10:05 am
It would be very easy to balance the budget and start repaying the debt. Just eliminate all the programs that are unconstitutional. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, Foreign Aid, etc... These are not provided for in the constitution. If the government wanted to create these programs legally it would require a constitutional admendment not simply passing a law. It's high time americans as a country and as individuals take responsibility for our actions and finances. Think ahead. Provide for your own retirement and healthcare. Simply paying taxes to a highly inefficient government so it can play nanny for us creates waste and dependency. Our founding fathers would be shocked and embarassed to see what has happened to the country they spilled their blood to found. Read the constitution and develop your own opinions instead of regurgitating what the politaical parties and news media tells you to think.
Dan
Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 11:08 am