$13,725,166,759,183.46 = our national debt

I repeat, $13,725,166,759,183.46 is our national debt.

I've always been told that "money doesn't grow on trees" but it seems that our country thinks so.

And so do many of our politicians... like Hugh Jidette. 

Read that last sentence aloud.

Did you catch on that his name sounds like “Huge Debt”?

Hugh is a fictional character that is part of a very clever PR campaign put on by OweNo.com.

He is "a fictional presidential candidate who has been created to capture the attention of the nation and bring to light the facts about our federal fiscal challenges and the threats they pose to our nation’s economic future." He certainly does capture attention. I had the tv on and was only half-listenting to his hilarious commercial called "Borrow Like There's No Tomorrow" which drew me in and led me to their wonderful website.

According to OweNo.com, "official government projections show federal debt doubling by the 2020’s, tripling by the 2030s and even quadrupling by the 2040’s. That means that, unless we change our course, $13.6 trillion could grow to more than $50 trillion."

Here are some even more frightening facts from their website:

• National debt averages out at a staggering $44,000 for every person in America.
• The number of people aged 65+ is projected to double, aka more people receiving more benefits which = MORE debt.
• $200 billion = what our government spends every year JUST on interest payments. AND, we get nothing for that money; much of it goes oversees to countries who own our debt. 
• By 2027, interest would be the largest item in the federal budget.
• Eventually, interest would take up 100% of all of the money the federal government collects - aka no money would be left to pay for things a government should do like education, research, development, etc.
• Owing so much to foreign countries could give them unprecedented and unacceptable influence over us.

How does all of this happen?

It is pretty simple. The website states, "Here’s how we’ve gotten to this point: The federal government has to borrow money when the revenues it collects are not enough to cover the amount it spends — a budget deficit."

And it is a significant deficit:



But this site is not just a downer. They offer several possible solutions.

In particular, they focus on the need to tweak the federal budget which currently breaks down as follows:

1. Healthcare: 36%
2. Social Security: 23%
3. Everything Else: 21%
4. Defense: 20%

Crazy, right?

This is even crazier; According to their website:

1. Healthcare: The U.S. spends twice as much per person on health care than most other countries; furthermore, healthcare represents 44% of projected federal spending by 2040, and is the largest and fastest growing fiscal challenge.
2. Social Security: In 1950, there were 16 workers paying taxes to support 1 retired person; by 2040, there will only be 2 workers for each retired person – this creates a big shortfall of money in the system.
3. Everything Else: This includes things such as agriculture, transportation, homeland security, education, unemployment benefits, national parks, international relations, and the operations of government.
4. Defense: The United States spends more on defense than the next 14 countries, combined.

If you'd like to join Hugh and those at OweNo.com, then click here to get involved with this great campaign.

Say "Oh yes" to "OweNO!"