Go Free Yourself

If there’s anything that really ticks me off, it’s the obscene way in which our government overtaxes us and then wastes the money.

That’s why I’m so glad there are groups doing something about it. One of them is Sheila Weinberg and the Institute for Truth in Accounting, who recently made front-page, above-the-fold news in USA Today. Here’s an excerpt:

The federal government’s long-term financial obligations grew by $2.5 trillion last year, a reflection of the mushrooming cost of Medicare and Social Security benefits as more baby boomers reach retirement.

That’s double the red ink of a year earlier.

Taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57.3 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs, a USA TODAY analysis found. That’s nearly $500,000 per household.

When obligations of state and local governments are added, the total rises to $61.7 trillion, or $531,472 per household. That is more than four times what Americans owe in personal debt such as mortgages.

“We’re running deficits in the trillions of dollars, not the hundreds of billions of dollars we’re being told,” says Sheila Weinberg, chief executive of the Institute for Truth in Accounting of Chicago.

Sheila and the Institute are doing important work with their Truth in 2008 project, which aims to make Americans aware of our country’s true financial situation—and force our elected leaders to face the music and deal with this sobering problem.

Read the whole USA Today piece here, and learn more about Sheila’s work here and here.

And—I’m sorry, I can’t resist—I can’t help but think how dear old Dwight Schrute might respond to a financial crisis such as this one. I mean, this is a man who brought up downsizing in his Dunder Mifflin job interview, and tried to eliminate company health care because “in the wild, there is no health care. In the wild, health care is, ‘Ow, I hurt my leg. I can’t run. A lion eats me. I’m dead.’ ” (I couldn’t find a YouTube video of this, so quoting will have to suffice.) Good stuff. We could use a little Dwight Schrute when it comes to government spending.

Happy Friday!

Facing a $16 million deficit, the Vallejo (CA) City Council voted unanimously last night to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

Meanwhile, the federal government is $55 trillion in the hole.

Enough said.