Your article, " Deficits spell trouble" in the 22 Jan 06 San Antonio Express-News is outstanding.
However, you did not paint the picture as bad as it really is. For instance, you indicated we had surpluses in the last few years of the Clinton administration. When you count the IOU's the US Congress wrote on using trust fund's surpluses, you wipe out all surpluses. As a matter of fact when you use the US National Debt Clock info, one had to go all the way back to 1960 to realize a surplus used to pay down the national debt. In the pass 20 years the Congress has borrowed over three trillion dollars of these trust fund's surpluses of which close to two trillion belong to the Social Security Trust Fund. Adding these IOU's to the last few years national deficits, you will find the following deficits in billions of dollars: (US National Debt Clock Info)1. 09/30/05 = $554 Bil (Versus yours of $319)
2. 09/30/04 = $596 Bil (Versus yours of $413)
3. 09/30/03 = $555 Bil
4. 09/30/02 = $421 Bil
5. 09/30/01 = $133 Bil
6. 09/30/00 = $18 Bil (Clinton's last full
year in office.)
This fiscal year to this date, 26 Jan 06, indicates a deficit of $258 Billion in just three months and 26 days. What will be the final amount? (US National Debt Clock)
Colonel Colin J. N. Chauret, USAF Retired
8506 Parthenon Place
Universal City, TX 78148
210-658-8720: Cjnchauret@aol.com
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