[Hoot Gibson]

I became curious on how much we would have to cut spending in order to not face a national credit rating downgrade.

To my understanding, both Moody's Investors Service and S&P will downgrade our national credit rating unless we pay off our national debt by $4 trillion in the next decade.

I haven't done much research on this, but I think our country currently receives $2 trillion of total revenue each year. However, we spend $3.6 trillion each year. If we cut government spending alone, we would have to cut $2 trillion each year just to pay off $4 trillion of our national debt in the next decade. That's not including interest from our national debt. This would be a significant cut since we would be spending $1.6 trillion on our country rather than $3.6 trillion for each year. I personally have no idea if raising taxes would help us more or not, but it does look like our national credit rating is going to be downgraded.

If our nation's credit rating is downgraded, I think that is the equivalent of an individual having a great credit rating and then having their credit rating lowered. That individual will have to pay more when they use their credit card. For our nation, we will have to pay back more when we borrow money.

I think this is the correct information. If anyone finds anything about this, please correct me.

*EDIT*: By the way, if we keep spending money like we have been, then the people who allow our country to borrow money might refuse to let us borrow any money if they get the idea that we might not pay them back. This would force us to cut spending. I've also heard that those who let our country borrow money might sell their bonds, but I personally don't know how that works, but I have heard that it will collapse our economy.

The way to balance the budget is to cap spending, or at least tie it to the nation's population growth rate, and begin reviewing all existing regulations, which are costing employers billions of dollars every year, often for no good reason. Tax hikes will simply result in more spending and more borrowing, as they will eliminate more jobs and reduce the pool of taxpayers.

The bond rating is nothing but a symptom of a sick economy caused by government meddling. The Fed is printing money to pay debt with inflated dollars. Many countries have done this before and none have succeeded. So, if the federal government pays bond holders a higher return on their investment it will not matter because the printing presses will be cranking out increasingly less valuable dollar bills. If we are lucky, our government and a majority of voters will regain their senses before a high inflation rate grows to hyperinflation levels.

I truly do not believe that most American voters are educated well enough to elect people to Congress and into the White House who are willing to take the actions necessary to head off an eventual economic collapse - but that is our only hope, IMO. As long as elected officials govern with both eyes on the results of polls and focus groups, we are doomed economically.