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Federal Debt vs. Terrorism – Which Is a Bigger Threat?

Tuesday June 7th, 2011   •   Posted by Emily Skarbek at 3:49pm PDT   •   3 Comments

Last year, Americans believed Federal government debt to be just as dangerous as terrorism. According to the a June 2010 Gallup poll, 4 in 10 Americans ranked both Terrorism and Federal Debt as an “extremely serious” threat to the future well-being of the United States.

One year later, Osama bin Laden is dead. The Wars rage on, and the United States’ menacing military presence in the world has grown. The national debt is over $14 TRILLION dollars. The debt has already pushed past the debt ceiling once and is about to crash into it again.

The showdown in Washington over the debt ceiling has the bond market working overtime this summer, ready and waiting to see if the Treasury will default. On Intrade, people are betting that there will be no increase in the debt ceiling before the end of the month and only about 46% think its possible before the end of July. In the meantime — 80% think that the Federal government will lose its AAA credit rating.

So what if we don’t raise the debt ceiling – what will happen then? Politicians may actually have to make spending cuts. Imagine that



3 Responses to “Federal Debt vs. Terrorism – Which Is a Bigger Threat?”

  1. Paul Gant says:
    June 14, 2011 at 1:06 am

    This is interesting. For most Americans, as long as Americans have gasoline for their cars and can afford even a high price, they do not care. If the federal government can be perceived as trying to obtain that gasoline, then most Americans let the federal government off the hook. Of course combined military operations and cost of the gasoline are much higher since the USA has chosen a belligerent route in dealing with its suppliers. (There are always some people who get rich off of wars.) And we know why that has happened. So, the country will be run into the ground, as long as people can drive their cars up until that point. We do not have democracy. We have something else, with information withheld, other information allowed to be advertised, on a censored basis.

  2. Marc says:
    June 14, 2011 at 8:06 pm

    Most tax dollars are consumed by the three largest welfare programs: Social Security, Medicare, and military-industrial-security-complex spending. Unfortunately, each is a politically untouchable “third rail”. When what is really called for is a hefty meat cleaver the most we can expect to see used by reelection-obsessed politicians is a dainty scissors for some “painful” light trimming. At this late stage viable less traumatic options have all but disappeared and matters will likely be determined by our creditors in the not too distant future. I doubt if they will very forgiving.

  3. James de Laurier says:
    June 15, 2011 at 5:05 am

    Emily Skarbek: 6/15/2011
    It is too late now, but this same poll should have been administered to all the members of Congress, at the same time it was given to the people. Then, have compared the results. If the poll taken from Congress indicated, “What me worry”? Then, the people just might have a real clear understanding of the chasm that exists between our Government and its citizens.
    Thanking you for your attention to this matter -

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