As of January 31, 2007, the national debt stands at $8.71 trillion and the current debt limit, something we raise automatically every twelve to eighteen months nowadays, stands at $8.965 trillion.

Since this debt can be covered only by American taxpayers, not the retired, youngsters not yet working, or our not-for-profit government no matter what baloney you might hear from politicians, and there are only about 120 million of these personal income taxpayers at best – it breaks down to about $72,563 per taxpayer if spread evenly across the board. And some recent events indicate that you better be ready to come up with a major chunk of your share.

In the first four months of fiscal 2007, the national debt has increased $200.6 billion or an average of $50.15 billion per month. It wasn’t long ago when that fifty billion would have been considered a disaster for one full year’s debt increase, but under the Bush administration it’s even a little less than the monthly average.

In the month of January, the debt went up only $27.3 billion and I suppose we should be thankful for that. But when you look back over the last six years you will find similar low increases in January.

Maybe, it’s because individuals and corporations begin to file their income tax returns after the turn of the calendar year and the government doesn’t feel the need to borrow so much plus the fact that there’s no dumping of annual interest into any of the major entitlement accounts in January.

But when you look at the pattern of what happens in February, it’s a different story, even though there is still no dumping of interest into major entitlement accounts during that month.

Last year, the debt went up $73.9 billion in February. In 2005, the February increase was $85.4 billion. In 2004, it was $82.7 billion. And in fiscal 2003 and 2002 it was $44.5 billion and $66.2 billion respectively.

Can we expect another big increase in February of this year?

Our third Secretary of the Treasury under Bush, Henry Paulson, is facing some unusual conditions this year:

• Our major creditors, China and Japan, flatly stated that they were “coming off” the dollar and investing elsewhere. So far, they are not being cruel about it and immediately turning in all the treasuries they hold which would bankrupt us overnight, but the effects of this are already being felt in the “bond market” with the Treasury’s Bureau of Public Debt finding it necessary to run thirteen “auctions” in January just to pay off the billions in treasuries maturing every day and producing the low amount of January’s surplus in sales for the government to enjoy. This prompted the December trip to the Orient by Mr. Paulson, Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, and a crew of our financial people that apparently got us nowhere. (You can read about this in the articles and links that appear at the end of this article)

• Coupled with the incalculable costs of our invasion and occupation of Iraq where we should never have been in the first place; the same propaganda and buildup to now attack Iran and Syria as well as the failure of Israel to effectively lead the way; and the recent “surge” in troops and threats to the elected government of Iraq urging them to do the same thing Saddam did to “stabilize” religious factions that have been at each other’s throats for centuries; plus the costs of keeping a fleet “at the ready” off the coast of Iran and 734 military bases across the globe with 55 more to build in Iraq – the need for more borrowing is perhaps greater than ever before.

• On Sunday, February 4, MSNBC published an article titled "3 Trillion Bush Budget to Trim Domestic Programs." On the same day, the New York Times pulished an article called "Record $622 Billion Budget Requested by the Pentagon." This is just the beginning folks. The federal government is desperate for more money.

What remains to be seen is whether the big pension houses, insurance companies, 401(k) managers, and other American investors will step up to the plate to plunge their fellow Americans and neighbors deeper into debt. Even if they are all supporters of the “war,” can they replace the hundreds of billions we’ve been borrowing from China and Japan?

If Congress really wanted to get us out of Iraq, they could cut off the borrowing that supports the war. They could refuse to raise the debt ceiling we'll be pushing shortly. Instead, they'll rubber stamp another increase just as they always do.

Voters may have thought they were electing the democrats to bring an end to the Bush foreign policy madness, but the democrats have already taken impeachment “off the table,” pledged to “support our troops,” and I’m buying into William F. Buckley’s definition of democrats as “people who over-water their plants.”

Related Articles:

Economic Disaster getting closer, Novermber 12, 2006
Scrambling & Hitting the road, November 24, 2006
When the Dollar Talks Back, NY Times, December 4, 2006
Oil Producers Shun the Dollar, MSNBC, December 10, 2006
China Has Us By The Purse, Thomas Paine, December 12, 2006
Dumping Interest on the tab, December 14, 2006
More Scrutiny Likely on China Trade Imbalance, Chicago Tribune, December 19, 2006
Iran Turns from Dollar to Euro in Oil Sales, Times Online, December 22, 2006
Clash on Capitol Hill Over Yuan, Forbes, December 22, 2006
No News - Not Good, December 26, 2006
Dollar Falls; U.S. Factory, Jobs Data May Show Slowing Economy, Bloomberg, Jan. 2, 2007
Playing Games with the National Debt, January 4, 2007
Bernanke Attacks Social Security, January 19, 2007
The Hypocrisy of Social Security Reform Debates, January 24, 2007
Truthout; Dean Baker; the Social Security WMD Story, January 24, 2007
More Hypocrisy From the Fed Chief, January 26, 2007