Once again, the most truthful website in the world...
Multiple intelligence agencies confirmed that the militant Islamist organization and its numerous affiliates intend to carry out a massive, coordinated plan to stand aside and watch America’s increasingly rapid decline, with terrorist operatives across the globe reportedly mobilizing to take it easy, relax, and savor the spectacle as it unfolds.
“We have intercepted electronic communication indicating that al-Qaeda members are actively plotting to stay out of the way while America as we know it gradually crumbles under the weight of its own self-inflicted debt and disrepair,” FBI Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano told the assembled press corps. “If this plan succeeds, it will leave behind a nation with a completely dysfunctional economy, collapsing infrastructure, and a catastrophic health crisis afflicting millions across the nation. We want to emphasize that this danger is very real.”
“And unfortunately, based on information we have from intelligence assets on the ground, this plot is already well under way,” he added.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fbi-uncovers-alqaeda-plot-to-just-sit-back-and-enj,35788/?utm_source=The+Onion&utm_campaign=acd3e39580-The_Onion_Newsletter_Daily_Template&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6a8b5ad20e-acd3e39580-17228849
= new reply since forum marked as read
how often I get sucked in by articles in the Onion!
I am not going to argue the point because it is very clear some people use those terms -- debt and deficit -- interchangeably. Just looking at the search results I pulled up just now, even the media does.
But take a look at this article from this time last year (entitled "Deficit Surprise: US Pays Down national Debt":
"For the first time since 2007 – before the recession – the US Treasury is planning to make a down payment on the federal debt. The budget deficit has been shrinking more than expected. Thanks to government spending cuts, and higher tax receipts The Treasury says it expects to pay off $35 billion of debt in the second quarter. That compares to an earlier forecast that it would have to borrow $103 billion. Usually this time of year is the best for government cash flow because annual tax returns flood into the Treasury in April. But the return to at least one quarter of debt paydown is a clear sign government spending cuts and tax increases have helped lower the deficit."
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/04/us-pays-down-national-debt/
So it does appear the deficit has shrunk somewhat and the excess revenues will pay off a little bite of the debt (which I believe is your point).
I am thinking perhaps since it is the same time of the year as when this article was written last year, meaning the Treasury is collecting a boatload of moolah at income tax time while experiencing more cutbacks in spending, it has paid down another sliver of what we all owe....????
