This puts the Federal Debt and Deficit in perspective!

That family isn't a family for long. It's going to soon be a broken shell, either seeking assistance from multiple avenues or homeless out in the streets. For the sake of argument here--with myself only--I will assume that part of the reason this family is in debt is because they have a cousin they support and an aunt they've picked up the tab for. They purchased a house for the cousin and pay the note. They carry the aunt's insurance and help her out because she's disabled. From the compassionate angle, they must keep doing it! Let anything go and people will suffer. Real live people will suffer. But how can they keep going? Nobody wants the family or its dependents to suffer. But if it isn't fixed, every single member of the family suffers to the point they're no longer a family. What about this don't people in America understand? Oh, never mind. I get it. A progressive, social justice type would look at this and simply say it isn't true. They would say the debt is a good thing and that the family should actually buy MORE property, take care of MORE people, and find MORE creditors willing to open a line. No plan to ever bring balance. It's all about keeping the handouts and spending going. You can't make this stuff up. You just can't. Humans have dreamed up some great fiction throughout history, but never anything this outlandish. Time travel novelists and space nuts say "WTF?" when they look at this logic.

If in that case, the family will always in big debt and will have a snow ball effect. That is not healthy and it should reduce to what they are making or even lower than that. That is not acceptable at all for a normal family. So, is your government really know about mathematic?

The difference is the government is playing with your money and feels that if it need more it can tax you more.

not very effective as they still will be drowning in high interest rates. Thanks for this comparison, though. Gives a good illustration.

Great perspective and hopefully it will help people understand just exactly what our esteemed civil servants are doing to us. This is also liek the hired help stealing the silver candle sticks.... repeatedly

I like Dave Ramsey! I wish they would get someone like him to run the treasury department. We'd be in better shape.

Wow seen in this perspective it is amazing. It is obvious that their spending cuts are so small compared to the debts as to be a very unfunny joke. At this rate they will never pay back their debts. This makes it clear that the whole hoopla about reducing the debt and threatening seniors, the disabled and veterans was just another piece of Obama political crap! Now I think that Obama has no conscience and must be a sociopath on top of his narcissistic, egoist, elitist traits.

Well then, NOW it all makes sense. Actually as a person who budgets my money and pays attention to my spending, I can see so many areas that they could cut spending that won't hurt the elderly, handicapped or truly poor and not attack the rich either. Just hiring some people to pay attention to the dam welfare that they give out could easily save them a small fortune and then as I mentioned in a previous post and a discussion that I started....the waste they do on government housing is astronomical. And this is just in my little corner of the world. I really don't like what our government has evolved in to. can't even blame either party because they both just talk pretty and do nothing. It's a matter of voting for whose lies you like the best. Ron Paul has some pretty good thoughts and like I said in the past, he sounds better and better all the time. Like a lover whose been burned way too many times though, you have wonder if he actually made it the white house, would he be able to actually do anything with all those good thoughts?

it isn't enough to cut spending with such a large deficit. innovative and new ways to lower cost need to be implemented also.

hi ted. this analogy really puts all these issues in perspective. glad i'm not part of this family. whew!!!

I am going to share this...it really puts it in a way everyone can understand. This new debt deal DOES NOT fix our problem. It does not stop the government from overspending. It does not even touch our existing debt. In other words...it is not a viable solution.

Sadly, there are some families that live that way. Have you ever seen the show "til debt do us part?" The host breaks down the debt just like that, and tells the couple "if you keep going at this rate, your debt will be half a million dollars in just ten years." So, to stick with this example, the U.S. government is like a family that has been entrenched in its bad habits for awhile! I like this comparison. It really helps people see that when you don't have the money to cover things, you HAVE TO STOP SPENDING. You might not want to, but you DO have to decide on priorities and cut the things that aren't.

Thanks for sharing these. I used a similar example to show my family what the debt was like, but I did not calculate the true proportions like this. Very handy. I wonder if we can get Congress into debt counseling? Love, The Debt-Ridden Rat