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Here are some samples of terms you should expect to encounter within the subject of the National Debt:
Sometimes the most effective propaganda just falls in your lap. You need not say anything. Just allow people to think their own thoughts. And many, many Americans believe that when Clinton talks about "reducing the deficit" he's actually doing something about the national debt. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Debt and deficit are two different things. What's more, due to the governments double bookkeeping, we have two different "deficits." One is the reported deficit; i.e., the amount of money borrowed above and beyond the governments tax income. And two---the real deficit. The total amount of money borrowed each year, including that from sources other than income, corporate and revenue taxes. More on this later.
It's still borrowing, no matter how you look at it. And it still adds to the total national debt. This is the same story we just heard from "the wayward son."
The national debt of the United States of America has never gone down. There have never been any payoffs or payments against the national debt. However, until the eighties the national debt never rose above one-half trillion.
What's more, if the federal government were to arrange 30 year mortgage payments against the debt as it now stands---those payments would amount to about $320 billion a year, a mere $70 million more than we are paying right now in interest alone.
The debt ceiling currently stands at $5.5 trillion, a figure we will reach this year, 1997. The "ceiling" has been raised 20 times in the last 12 years. What do you think will happen this year?
In November and December of 1995, when the debt ceiling stood at $4.9 trillion, the republican majority refused to raise the ceiling unless Clinton signed onto some of their programs. As you will remember, this caused two temporary "shutdowns" of some parts of federal government and cost us more than it would have if there had been no shutdowns. Nobody lost any pay. Payroll was delayed, however, while many civil servants had an unplanned vacation.
To politicians, this means to stop borrowing more than the government takes in from income, corporate and excise taxes. It does not mean to stop borrowing from all the trust funds which contribute the most to national debt growth.