Is it true taxpayers pay $400 billion a year on interest payments for the national debt?

Question

$400 billion??? a year???? can that be right? saw it at bigpolitic.com

Answer 1

Yeah, it's probably true. And with the way George W. Bush is racking up the debt, you can bet that we'll be paying even more than that far too soon. God forbid if McCain's elected we'll be paying a TRILLION dollars per year in interest on the national debt.

VOTE OBAMA in '08!!  

Answer 2

The National debt is almost 10 trillion dollars, and at 4% interest, that would work out to about 400 billion dollars per year.

Slightly more than half the debt (half the bonds issued by the government when it borrows money ) is owned by the public including foreign countries who have loaned money to our government.

The remaining portion of the debt consists of  borrowing between different parts of the government.  For example, as a result of reforms in the 1980's the Social Security Trust Fund, which is funded by FICA taxes on worker's wages earmarked for their retirement has been running at a surplus, in anticipation of the retirement of the baby boom generation. - About 2 trillion dollars of this surplus has been borrowed by the rest of the government and spent. The Social Security Trust fund has been earning interest on this debt, but it has been allowed to accumulate and added to the debt.  - So the rest of the government has not yet had to pay any of the interest, which has made the debt and interest burden appear smaller. -    Unfortunately, the government has no plan in place to pay back the principal  or interest when it is needed to pay social security pay benefits.  Politicians like to call this a Social Security Problem - but it is really a problem of deficit spending generally, because the justification for those high FICA taxes on even the lowest paid worker was that the money was to be used for their retirement.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stat...

Answer 3

Yep, don't you just love the Reagan and Bush debts?

I miss the days when the republicans were fiscally conservative.

Answer 4

Yeah and i swear i will attend gamblers anon.

                                   Mr. Nathanional Debt.

Thought i´d add a bit of humour to what is an otherwise serious problem, and why do we the tax payers have to pay for this and many other, things? its a wonder we even get to spend any of the money we earn.

PS if there is  a Mr Nathanional Debt out there i´m sorry for taking your name in vain, but rather you than me.

Answer 5

hmm i'm not too surprised by that

Answer 6

Yes, mostly to the Saudis and Chinese.

I hope you enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the olympics. You paid for them.