05-30-2009, 12:10 AM
<b>Leap in U.S. debt hits taxpayers with 12% more red ink </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Key federal obligations:
⢠Social Security. It will grow by 1 million to 2 million beneficiaries a year from 2008 through 2032, up from 500,000 a year in the 1990s, its actuaries say. Average benefit: $12,089 in 2008.
⢠Medicare. More than 1 million a year will enroll starting in 2011 when the first Baby Boomer turns 65. Average 2008 benefit: $11,018.
â¢Retirement programs. Congress has not set aside money to pay military and civil servant pensions or health care for retirees. These unfunded obligations have increased an average of $300 billion a year since 2003 and now stand at $5.3 trillion<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Bond Vigilantes Confront Obama as Housing Falters </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For the first time since another Democrat occupied the White House, investors from Beijing to Zurich are challenging a presidentâs attempts to revive the economy with record deficit spending. Fifteen years after forcing Bill Clinton to abandon his own stimulus plans, the so-called bond vigilantes are punishing Barack Obama for quadrupling the budget shortfall to $1.85 trillion. B<b>y driving up yields on U.S. debt, they are also threatening to derail Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernankeâs efforts to cut borrowing costs for businesses and consumers</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
⢠Social Security. It will grow by 1 million to 2 million beneficiaries a year from 2008 through 2032, up from 500,000 a year in the 1990s, its actuaries say. Average benefit: $12,089 in 2008.
⢠Medicare. More than 1 million a year will enroll starting in 2011 when the first Baby Boomer turns 65. Average 2008 benefit: $11,018.
â¢Retirement programs. Congress has not set aside money to pay military and civil servant pensions or health care for retirees. These unfunded obligations have increased an average of $300 billion a year since 2003 and now stand at $5.3 trillion<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Bond Vigilantes Confront Obama as Housing Falters </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For the first time since another Democrat occupied the White House, investors from Beijing to Zurich are challenging a presidentâs attempts to revive the economy with record deficit spending. Fifteen years after forcing Bill Clinton to abandon his own stimulus plans, the so-called bond vigilantes are punishing Barack Obama for quadrupling the budget shortfall to $1.85 trillion. B<b>y driving up yields on U.S. debt, they are also threatening to derail Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernankeâs efforts to cut borrowing costs for businesses and consumers</b>.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->