Making Sense

Let me see if I understand this...

• Iraq democracy-building costs billions of dollars.
  
• Katrina reconstruction costs billions of dollars.
  
• Tax cuts cost billions of dollars.

Where does the money come from for that? Not from increased taxes, as Bush explained, but from international loans, or more specifically, from the selling of US Treasury bills to other countries.

What countries are lending us that money? In 2004, the top 4 buyers of US Treasury Securities were:

• Japan
  
• China
  
• UK
  
• Korea
  
• and probably Saudi Arabia. But they don't disclose that information.

So when I hear that the cost of government programs is causing our national debt to rise, I interpret that to mean that Japan, China, et al. are in effect funding democracy-building in Iraq, Katrina reconstruction, and all the luxury goods that some Americans are able to purchase with their tax cut.

Does that make sense?


US National Debt as of September 19, 2005: