Family Budget

The U.S. Budget Explained As a Family’s Household Budget

We have a hard time understanding big numbers, because we never encounter them in day-to-day life. “1 Trillion Dollars”? What does that even mean?

Carrie Lukas at NRO’s The Corner blog points us to something very helpful — explaining the U.S. Budget in terms of a household budget:

The Gainesville Tea Party seems to have the right idea: They take some of our key economic numbers — how much money the U.S. government brings in, how much it spends, and how much brave politicians are “cutting” to bring those numbers into balance — and simply lop off eight zeros (i.e., divide by 100 million) to make those numbers something that American families can relate to:

Why S&P Downgraded the US: U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000 Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000 New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000 National debt: $14,271,000,000,000 Recent [April] budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget: Annual family income: $21,700 Money the family spent: $38,200 New debt on the credit card: $16,500 Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710 Budget cuts: $385

(Edd adds – eliminate Bush Tax Cuts based on 8 1/2 days of spending – $889)

As Carrie observed, this comparison is extremely eye-opening. It shows just how unsustainable and irresponsible our current government spending, debt and deficit is.

How on earth, in this context, can liberals and progressives continue to argue for even MORE spending and even LESS budget cuts? A family seriously carrying on business as usual with these sorts of numbers would be insane, or at the very least extremely imprudent.

How is this sort of spending, debt, and deficit possibly moral on a grand scale when we can see how clearly unwise it is on a family scale?

jsalinas says:

March 21, 2013 at 10:16 am

QUSTTION
HOW MANY TAXES DID THE GOVERMENT PAY IN
ON THE INSIDER TRADING THEY DID
BEFOR WE HERD ABOUT IT,
REMEMDER THEY PUT US IN JAIL FOR DOING THIS ??????????

Steve says:

November 28, 2012 at 9:33 pm

The impact of the Bush Tax Cuts are nothing. Love this information. Thanks for the keep it simple for the libs.
As Dave Ramsey teaches. it is about taking deliberate action toward a goal to be debt free.
Baby Steps to paying off the debt. Works every time.
There is no way to borrow your way our of debt unless you are the government who can just print more money and kick the inflation bomb down the road again and again.
I am 60 and know the SS and Medicare system must be reengineered. That is fine. Raising he ages fixes the math.
Still don’t understand why do we continue to provide foreign aid to those who hate us?
Many opportunities for sound decisions. When will the Republicans stand up to this (grow a pair) and call it what it is. Hammer them with the truth and don’t back down. Period.
Thank you so much for this wonderful breakdown in a budget format. I intend to share it with every liberal I can find who is too dumb to see the writing on the wall.
We have become a country of what can you do for me instead of the way JFK put it, What can you do for YOUR country. Wow how the Democrats have changed their message.

Richarde Hutchinson says:

November 28, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Great workthank you to team for getting this on the grid. Only one problem, being so simple, our friends in the national media – including those @ FOX – will NATURALLY attempt to suppress it.

Thanks a lot Russell and Edd and those upstream at Tea/Florida.