Okay, You Decide

Often, I am tempted to supply conclusions I believe should be drawn from the facts pertinent to this or that issue, especially when I hear incorrect opinions based on the same information flooding the conversation, and crowding out the truth. This time I will refrain, I will let the facts speak for themselves. So, see if you hear what these facts are telling us the same way I do.

This morning's Times-Picayune contains a wealth of very useful, factual financial information relative to the right wing Republican/Teacan manufactured debt crisis. The article clearly breaks down three key areas of interest in this matter.

1. When was the current U.S. debt accumulated, and in what amount? The answer to this is during the George W. Bush administration it was piled up in almost 3 times the amount incurred at any other period in our history.
2. What is the total debt, and who holds it? The answer is the total debt is 14.3 trillion dollars, and 9.8 trillion dollars (69%)  is held by Americans. It is held by individuals, corporations, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, mutual funds, state and local governments, and federal government trust funds like social security. That leaves 31% in the hands of foreign investors, with only 13% held by China, contrary to the widespread myth that China is our "banker." In point of fact, we are our own "banker."
3. Who would be in danger of being jilted on payments Congress previously agreed to make, if there really were a default after August 2nd? The answer includes innocent American victims such as social security recipients, medical providers, school systems, Federal employees, and Defense vendors (that is, the people and businesses who make the stuff our sons and daughters use to defend us).

So, a default would deliver great pain to a great number of good, solid American citizens and businesses who, in good faith, invested their hard-earned money in the United States of America. The idea that the United States of America would intentionally and needlessly deliver such pain to itself is like someone with a headache beating themselves in the head with a stick until the pain stops.

I won't say that people who would do such a thing are stupid or crazy, or both. I will let you decide.