Viewing U.S. debt on a common scale

BRIAN MAES | Olympia • Published January 26, 2013 Modified January 25, 2013

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I received this in an email. It puts the fiscal cliff in a much better perspective.

Lesson #1: U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000. Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000. New debt: $1,650,000,000,000. National debt: $14,271,000,000,000. Recent budget cuts: $38,500,000,000.

Let’s now remove eight zeros and pretend it’s a household budget: Annual family income: $21,700. Money the family spent: $38,200. New debt on the credit card: $16,500. Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710. Total budget cuts so far: $38.50.

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