Thread: John B. Nelson : Studies in Bankruptcy and the National Debt

John B. Nelson : Studies in Bankruptcy and the National Debt

http://www.hawaiian-tv.com/showthread.php?t=1508

No wonder we ain't gettin' anywhere in reducing the debt...

Debt Jumped $54.1 Billion in 8 Days Preceding Obama-Boehner Deal to Cut $38.5 Billion for Rest of Year
Saturday, April 09, 2011

The federal debt increased $54.1 billion in the eight days preceding the deal made by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) to cut $38.5 billion in federal spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.

The debt was $14.2101 trillion on March 30, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and $14.2642 on April 7.

Since the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010, the national debt has increase by $653.4 billion.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...days-preceding

See also:

$38.5B Cuts in Boehner-Obama Deal Less Than 6 Percent of $653.4B In Debt Incurred Already This Fiscal Year
Saturday, April 09, 2011 - House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and President Barack Obama agreed to deal late Friday evening to keep the government funded through the rest of fiscal year 2011, which runs through September.

Congress agreed to immediately pass a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded into next week and then pass another bill next week that would fund the government until Sept. 30.

The deal includes $38.5 billion in spending cuts. That equals just under 6 percent of the $653.4 billion in increased debt the government has already incurred this fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1, 2010.

On Oct. 1, 2010, the debt was $13.6108 trillion ($13,610,847,585,810.09). As of yesterday, it was $14.2646 trillion [$14,264,245,526,311.58], an increase of $653.4 billion ($653,397,940,501.49).

When Boehner became speaker of a Republican-majority House on Jan. 5, 2011, the debt was at $14.0115 trillion ($14,011,526,727,895.85). Since that day it has increased $252.7 billion. The $38.5 billion in cuts in the Boehner-Obama deal equals about 15 percent of the new debt that has already piled up in the three months since the Republicans took control of the House.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...al-less-6-perc

Addendum to prior post...

Feds Spent $142B on Thursday Alone—As Pols Dickered Over Cutting $33B or $40B for Rest of Year
Friday, April 08, 2011 - The federal government spent $142.3 billion on Thursday alone, according to the Daily Treasury Statement released at 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon.

This $142.3 billion in spending took place on a day when the White House and congressional leaders were deadlocked over whether to cut between $33 billion and $40 billion in federal spending for the rest of the year. To fund the $142.3 billion it spent on Thursday, the U.S. Treasury borrowed $132.8 billion during the day by selling new debt instruments—and almost all of these ($129.9 billion) were short-term Treasury bills that mature in one year or less.

By far, the federal government’s top expense on Thursday was paying off old debts that came due and that the government had a legal obligation to meet. During the day, Treasury reports, it paid off $130.75 billion in Treasury securities that had matured. The other biggest expenses for the government on Thursday included $1.7 billion in Medicaid benefits, $1.133 billion in payments to defense contractors, $1.101 billion in Medicare benefits, and $853 million in salaries for federal workers. After the $132.8 billion in new Treasury securities the government sold on Thursday, the second largest source of federal revenue for the day was tax receipts, which totaled $2.154 billion.

Because the combined total of the new money it borrowed and the total tax revenue it received on Thursday did not cover the day’s expenses, the Treasury drew down its cash balance by $6.022 billion during the day. By the close of business Thursday, the Treasury was left with just $41.951 billion in cash, down from the $309.833 billion cash balance it maintained at the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2010.

The current legal limit on the national debt, as set in a statute passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, is $14.294 trillion. By the close of business Thursday, the debt subject to this limit had reached $14.211999 trillion—leaving the Treasury the legal authority to increase the debt by only another $82 billion. Last month, the Treasury predicted the national debt would hit the legal limit sometime between April 15 and May 31.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...lone-pols-dick

Student loan debt contributing to bankruptcies...

Student debt pushing more people toward bankruptcy, lawyers say
February 7, 2012, More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys have seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys says.

Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday. More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys say they've seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, with nearly half the lawyers reporting a significant increase in such cases, according to the report by the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

Nearly one-quarter of attorneys say the number of potential student loan clients has risen 50% to 100%, while 39% of attorneys report increases of 25% to 50%. Student debt is rising for obvious reasons: steadily spiraling college costs, financial aid cutbacks at public universities and a stubbornly weak economy that's making it difficult for graduates to find jobs.

The average student loan debt of 2010 college graduates topped $25,000 — the first time it has exceeded that inglorious mark. Graduating seniors had an average loan burden of $25,250, up 5.2% from the $24,000 owed by the class of 2009, according to the Project on Student Debt in Oakland. Student loan debt can be overwhelming for people who can't pay it off. Unlike many other forms of personal debt, student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, meaning the debt can hang over students well into their adult lives.

The bankruptcy attorneys group says worsening debt levels could spur a financial crisis similar to the mortgage meltdown. "Take it from those of us on the frontline of economic distress in America," said William E. Brewer Jr., the group's president. "This could very well be the next debt bomb for the U.S. economy."

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