FISCAL CLIFF AND DEBT CIELING EXPLAINED

Here is a great Plain English explanation of the Fiscal Cliff problem.

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 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
* Annual family income:                        $21,700.00
* Money the family spent:                     $38,200.00
* New debt on the credit card:               $16,500.00
* Balance owing on the credit card:      $142,710.00
* Total budget cuts so far:                              $3.85

Got It ?

Lesson # 2:

Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling: Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings. What do you think you should do - raise the ceiling, or remove the crap?