The deficit and the debt ... The news is awash with the astronomical numbers of what we owe. The federal debt ceiling is looking for another raise because we're pushing up against the old limit of $14.9 trillion. It's a number that most people don't understand. Let's do it in longhand - $14,900,000,000,000.00 - that's a lot of zeroes. The federal deficit is coming in this year at an estimated $1.6 trillion - $1.600,000,000,000.00 - again, lots of zeroes. But what does it mean, really?

The national debt is the total amount of dollars we owe out there. In terms we can understand at the dinner table, it is not the pile of bills every month, not the minimum payment we are making, but the payoff total for all of the credit cards.

The national deficit relates to the operating expenses of the federal government. These are the household utitities, things that you pay as you go or they stop. After you pay those things, and then add on the minimum payment we are making on the credit credit cards, we have our budget. In our budget, as it stands right now, we pay out more than we take in, to the tune of $1.6 trillion. That comes out to a little under $ 4.4 billion per day. We, as a country, have been putting that shortfall on the credit cards. We're sure many of you can relate in this economy.

Two problems are facing the country now - the same two problems that many of us face nowadays. To borrow a quote from Dave Ramsey - we have too much month left at the end of our money. We need to get our expenses in line with our income. The credit card company doesn't want to raise our credit limit anymore. Looks like a pretty tough problem.

At the dinner table, the only way we can solve this problem as individuals is to cut back - drop the options, turn off the cable, drive less. The federal government has options not available to the average American. First they can print more money (wouldn't that be nice?), and they did, which caused a devaluation of nearly 30% of the dollar's value. That has resulted in higher consumer prices on anything involving imports. We examined that in What's Going On With Prices? Nice.

The second thing the government can do is to give itself a raise, in the form of raising taxes. Wouldn't it be wonderful to go to work in the morning and tell the boss that you are giving yourself a 20% raise to cover your bills? That's what the federal government wants to do. Again, nice.

Then there's the third thing that the federal government can do, that we can't - raise our own credit limit. That would be a treat. Every time we approach the credit limit on our Visa, we just tell them to raise it again - even if we're only paying the interest.

That's the crux of it, and then there's the sad, not so well kept secret. It can print more money, but the government does not generate any wealth. Every nickel that the government gets, it gets from you and me, the taxpayer. It can either take more money from us in the form of taxes, or borrow it and give us the bill to pay.

In all of this, the federal government is not talking about reducing spending in any meaningful form. We have shared links on our Facebook page illustrating how little is really being proposed in cuts. We haven't seen too many people outside of the government stepping up and telling the feds to help themselves to more of our cash either (and really, just raising taxes on the rich isn't gonna cut it).

So, we are where the mainstream media puts us. Stingy Republicans trying to starve poor children, and throw Grandma off a cliff. Irresponsible Democrats spending your kids college fund and enslaving your grandchildren (all the while texting their weiners). We have got to stop listening to the hype, and start fixing the problem.

Everyone looks at income and debt, and gets their panties in a bunch. There's a missing factor - assets. A $10,000.00 debt is pretty serious to most families. Not so much to a millionaire. To a billionaire it's pocket change. That is the justification for taxing the rich. It is a false justification.

As an illustration, let's say that you are you, and you have a well-off friend. Strike that, a filthy rich friend. More money than God. Let's say that every time you go out together, he just never has any cash on him, and his cards are maxxed out - so you wind up paying for dinner. Every time. At the golf course, same thing. He sees a homeless person that he wants to help out, so he grabs $20 out of your wallet. You get eaten by the economy, lose your job, lose your home. He can't help you out though, but he understands your frustration. He offers to go grab a pizza and a beer with you, and once again you are stuck with the bill. Your blood pressure up yet?

That is the situation for every American reading this article who pays taxes. From the struggling working poor to the richest person in the country. That "friend" we described is the federal government. The federal government owns vast tracts of land, mineral holdings, oil, natural gas, coal, timber, roads assets, buildings, intellectual property - the list goes on forever.

George Friedman, a noted investment strategist and head of Stratfor, did a study that not only took into account income and expenses, but assets held by the federal government. They factored in all of the above, plus numerous other factors. The study came up with a broad range for what the net worth of America is. It is a broad range. It estimates the net assets held by the federal government to be on the low end at $63 trillion, and at the high end of $258 trillion. Friedman himself believes that a good, realistic number to work with is $158 trillion. $14.9 trillion doesn't look so bad anymore.

Several years ago our favorite flake in GOP clothing, Donald Trump, ran into some financial difficulty. To address the problem, he sold some assets and came back stronger. We suggest to the federal government that it's time for a yard sale.

The state of Nevada is 93% federally owned land. Put it up for sale TO the state of Nevada, private developers, businesses, individuals, whoever will pay market price and pays taxes in the United States. There is federal land lying idle in nearly every state suitable for development. Sell it. Pay down the debt.

We have vast tracts of land not suitable for development. Most of it is rich in resources - oil, coal, natural gas, metals, minerals. Sell more leases, harvest more resources. This will have two benefits - income stream to pay down the debt, and increased exports feeding the economy.

Sell unused federal facilities - military bases, airports, empty buildings, Amtrak. Broadcasting spectrum. Don't give it away, sell it. The private sector will turn these things from eating up tax dollars to generating tax dollars. It's win / win.

Common Sense Dictates

There, the debt is fixed, without raising tax dollars or drastic cutting of programs, but the deficit remains. Unless we spend less than we take in, the debt will rise again. We believe that the problem is not revenue, but spending. Most federal spending services entitlement programs. Out of this, entitlement reform is the only realistic option, making up over 60% of federal expenditures - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.

We know that there is strong debate as to whether the federal government should be involved in these areas, but the fact is, that it is. Structural changes are required to keep them solvent. We have already examined Social Security in Social Insecurity  We find Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan to be intelligently thought out. Medicaid can be improved by converting it to fixed block grants to the states. There are ways to honor our promises without bankrupting the country. It is vital that we do so.

We need to be as responsible with our money in the government's hands, as we are in our own. We need to pay off the credit card binge, and we need to develop a real federal budget based on programs and policies  that are in line with our values just like we do in our homes. We need to stop spending because we want to and spend on what we need to. We have to stop spending other people's money. In short we need to grow up. This is NOT the end of the world. America is NOT going to collapse. We just have to be adults, not spoiled teenagers. So says Common Sense.

RLB