WHATWHY: July 2011

As a politically independent person I wonder what will happen if there is no deal on the National Debt Limit. Currently I believe that if it is not raised there is a great deal that the government can still pay out. $178 billion to $220 billion a month is what the US Treasury takes in. I have heard that SSN payments take up in the neighborhood of $20 billion a month. Military pay is < $13 billion (if my math is correct) per month. Interest on the National Debt has averaged 42,874,661,055.30 for the 9 months of FY 11. Approximate total is $76 billion for the 3 largest expenditures by the US Federal Government. I haven't looked at outlays for Medicare/Medicaid, so the total remaining for all other Fed Programs is $102 to $144 billion a month.

The point of this is that my income comes from the Federal Govt. I could be in a lot of trouble if the POYUS & Congress do not resolve their differences on raising the debt limit and cutting spending. Personally I hope that they do not and we will see that nothing changes because the words the POYUS keeps saying is that social security recipients won't get paid, there is enough to pay on time. Military serving in the wars, OIF/OEF/OND will not get paid, there is enough for that and the entire military to get paid. Now when it comes to other agencies there will probably need to be some cut backs.

I feel that there is a lot of hot air blowing out of DC and that the average guy on Main Street can just keep on keeping on. Then we can all vote the bums out who were elected to Congress prior to 2000. That is where the real problem is. Just look at the House Ways & Means Committee, it all begins there.