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Today is Debt Day this year, and so it is worthy of a post acknowledging that fact. What is Debt Day, you ask?
It’s the day on the government’s fiscal calendar in which the government can no longer claim to be spending money that it will take in over the course of the fiscal year. Every dollar spent from now until the government’s fiscal year ends on September 30 adds to the national debt.
In the past few years, Debt Day has fallen between July and September. Deficit spending this year accounts for just over 5 months of the government’s budget.
While I’m generally in favor of government spending in a recession to offset the contraction of the economy, I think we can all agree that our government’s spending is out of control. It’s pretty sad that the only entity capable of bailing out the banks from their balance sheet problems is itself in pretty bad financial shape. There is no larger entity that can bailout the government if it gets itself in trouble. The debt will be passed on to us as taxpayers.
So, Happy Debt Day!