I was at the moon and sixpense yesterday to listen to @yuetsu play some gypsy jazz at an open jam session. @peteforsyth came too and we talked about deficit spending. Last night @brampitoyo was held in custody for most of the morning for not having his bus pass with him. Trimet's revenue from passenger fares is $60 million and only 20% of its total revenue. This got me thinking again about the federal budget.

I thought I was voting for fiscal responsibility when I voted for Obama. This budget summary on page 3 has some disturbing numbers. In 2008 the federal government took in $2.5 trilion dollars and spent $2.9 trillion. In 2009 the federal government took in $2.1 and spent $3.9 trililon dollars!! What kind of organization can spend more than it takes in? The kind that can print its own money. Its an involuntary tax to dilute the value of everyone's dollars by having the federal reserve create more cash out of thin air. In 2010 the estimated intake is $2.3 trillion and estimated outlay is $3.5 trillion.

Page 31 shows "Total, Gross federal debt". 2008 $9.9 trililon, 2009 $12.8 trillion, 2010 $14.4 trillion... it just keeps climbing. This is insane. We already owe 3 times our yearly income. If the federal government made $30,000 a year, its like having $120,000 in credit card debt and every year they look for a new card to max out. Its got to stop before a revolution or civil war is necessary to correct it.

What is encouraging but at the same time very confusing is this budget page which shows a 2009 deficit spending amount of $407 billion and 2010's deficit amount of $160 billion, with a budget surplus by 2012. That makes me feel like the world is a sane place again, but why does that page differ so greatly from the PDF?

If you look at Bush's last budget overview. The message is clear - war = safety. Its also harder to find simple totals of yearly intake and outlay. In 2008 (according to the Obama PDF document) $1.1 trillion of that $2.9 trillion outlay went to the military and $1.6 trillion went to everything else, and $253 billion in interest payments.

Also, support Downsize DC and their "Honest Money" bill. from their newsletter: "Most counterfeiters don't confess their crimes, but the Federal Reserve does. The Fed has just revised its March counterfeiting confession UPWARDS. When last we reported the basic money supply as of March stood at 1.644 trillion Now, as of an update on May 1st, the Fed has increased this number to 1.647 trillion, an increase of 3 billion additional counterfeit dollars. The January and February numbers have also been revised . . . HIGHER! Remember what this means -- every time the Fed creates new dollars your money becomes less valuable. Also remember that those who get the money first (mainly banks, borrowers, and those with government contracts) profit from this legalized counterfeiting at YOUR EXPENSE. How do you stop this? The easiest plan is to break the Fed's monopoly control over what you use for money. In the last Congress (110th), Congressman Ron Paul introduced three "Honest Money" bills . . ."