Would you run your family budget like this?
By Chris Ingram
The Tampa Tribune
Published Wednesday, January 9, 2012
A friend recently emailed me the following with regard to the “fiscal cliff” and the so-called debt ceiling — which really doesn’t have a ceiling at all.
My friend didn’t write it, and I couldn’t find who did, but it’s the most concise and meaningful explanation about the biggest problem facing our country I’ve seen to date. It was titled, “Fiscal cliff put in a much better perspective.”
Caption: U.S. taxpayers taking a walk with Congress as their shepherd.
Lesson No. 1:
U.S. tax revenue (money collected): $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget (money spent): $3,820,000,000,000
Difference between spending and revenue added to the national debt: $1,650,000,000,000
National debt (what we owe, but not including all liabilities such as Social Security): $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cuts: $38,500,000,000
Let’s now remove eight zeros and pretend it’s a family’s household budget:
Annual family income: $21,700
Money the family will spend if they want to keep living a lifestyle beyond its means: $38,200
New debt on the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card (a result from living beyond their means for many years): $142,710
Total budget cuts planned by family resulting in reduction on lifestyle: Click here to read the column in The Tampa Tribune.
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Chris Ingram is the president and founder of 411 Communications a corporate and political communications firm, and publisher of Irreverent View. Ingram is a frequent pundit on Fox News and CNN, and has written opinion columns for the Washington Times, UPI, and National Review online. He is the Republican political analyst for Bay News 9, the only 24 hour all news channel in Florida’s largest media market. The opinions expressed here are those of author and do not represent the views of Bay News 9. E-mail him at: Chris@IrreverentView.com.
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Loved this… and loved the sheep photo and the caption.
Nice short sweet and to the point.