Here are some numbers that put into perspective the sorry state of the federal government and our fiscal predicament:

Current National Debt: $5.4 trillion

Current Federal Deficit: $407 billion

Combined bailouts (to date): $1.6 trillion

Eight years of Wars: $790 billion

Social Security Payments (2008): $612 billion

Medicare (2008): $454 billion

Medicaid (2008): $202 billion

Interest on the National Debt (2008): $244 billion

Earmarks (2008): $16.5 billion

For all the talk about the ravages of adding on more debt and leverage, the government has no other choice but to take out the credit card so that taxpayers will incur even more staggering debt service costs in the future--$244 billion will look good next year.

And oh yeah, eliminating earmarks will make a major difference in the sea of red ink.

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Jonathan D. Miller

A marketing communication strategist who turned to real estate analysis, Jonathan D. Miller is a foremost interpreter of 21st citistate futures – cities and suburbs alike – seen through the lens of lifestyles and market realities. For more than 20 years (1992-2013), Miller authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the leading commercial real estate industry outlook report, published annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has lectures frequently on trends in real estate, including the future of America's major 24-hour urban centers and sprawling suburbs. He also has been author of ULI’s annual forecasts on infrastructure and its What’s Next? series of forecasts. On a weekly basis, he writes the Trendczar blog for GlobeStreet.com, the real estate news website. Outside his published forecasting work, Miller is a prominent communications/institutional investor-marketing strategist and partner in Miller Ryan LLC, helping corporate clients develop and execute branding and communications programs. He led the re-branding of GMAC Commercial Mortgage to Capmark Financial Group Inc. and he was part of the management team that helped build Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, Inc. (subsequently Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc.) into the leading real estate advisor to pension funds and other real institutional investors. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1981, moving to Equitable Real Estate in 1984 as head of Corporate/Marketing Communications. In the 1980's he managed relations for several of the country's most prominent real estate developments including New York's Trump Tower and the Equitable Center. Earlier in his career, Miller was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He is a member of the Citistates Group and a board member of NYC Outward Bound Schools and the Center for Employment Opportunities.