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It doesn’t add up

Some interesting facts to ponder. Our national debt is approaching $20 trillion. Reminder: A trillion is a one followed by 12 zeros (1,000,000,000,000). The fiscal year 2015 federal budget was $3.8 trillion. The October Forbes magazine has listed the wealthiest 400 U.S. citizens. Forbes reports the total wealth of the top 400 at $2.4 trillion.

So let’s run these numbers. If the federal government were to confiscate the entire wealth of the top 400, the national debt would be reduced by 12 percent. Looking at it another way, were the same confiscation applied to the 2015 budget, our federal government would be out of money in 7 1/2 months.

I find it ironic that the Democratic Party, which has a propensity for spending, is also the party that is most associated with the progressive secular side of politics. So, what’s the irony? Clearly, only an act of divine intervention can get us out of this mess.

Larry Moore

Coeur d’Alene

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