U.S. National Debt Now Stands at $1.1 Million per Taxpayer

Lake Havasu City, AZ – New figures released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury reveal that the total national debt has surpassed $17 trillion, up from the $10.6 trillion it was back in 2009. “These new figures are staggering,” Supervisor Buster Johnson stated. “The number one job of any government is to create a balanced budget. The federal government needs to come together to stop this out of control spending. They claim to have lowered the 2014 deficit, but they are still spending $492 billion more than they had in revenue,” Johnson continued. According to financial magazine Forbes, $17 trillion is just the tip of the ice berg. “The United States has nearly a hundred times that in long-term unfunded liability,” Johnson stated. According to Forbes, the total amount of unfunded liabilities is $126 trillion, or $1.1 million per U.S. taxpayer. “While the US National Debt Clock may calculate that every man, woman and child owes $55,346 in funded liabilities, it is the actual tax payers that will end up paying over $1 million in both funded and unfunded liabilities to pay this debt back,” Johnson explained. According to the Senate Budget Committee, $3.7 trillion has been spent on welfare which according to Forbes has contributed the most to the rising debt. “Social Security is not an entitlement,” Johnson stated. “Taxpayers pay into this fund and expect the money they put in to be there when they retire. The problem is our federal government keeps allowing those who have not paid into it to collect from it,” Johnson continued. According to the Forbes report, 70% of all federal spending is on dependency programs. “America still has a staggering 46.5 million Americans living in poverty today,” Johnson said. A report by the Senate Budget Committee shows the federal government is spending more on welfare than on education and transportation. “The transportation infrastructure in this country is in dire need of repair,” Johnson stated. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that if nothing is done by 2020, the US investment shortfall will grow to $1.1 trillion. “If the federal government spent half of what they do on welfare to fix our crumbling infrastructure, it would not only create jobs but ensure a flourishing economy,” Johnson ended. ###