16 GOING ON 17

                                                                    16 GOING ON 17
                                        
                                        16 going on 17. Now that would make a catchy tune title,
                                        would it not? Oh, I forgot, Rogers and Hammerstein
                                        have already been there, and done that. Of course, if you
                                        per chance read some of my previous columns you realize
                                        that the little ditty I am whistling actually refers to the
                                        requiem known as our national debt that whizzed past 
                                        the 16 trillion dollar mark on September 4, 2012, which
                                        just happened to be the opening day of the Democratic 
                                        National Converntion. How apropos.

                                        The school bell has rung and many an eager learner has
                                        returned to the classroom hoping to increase their know-
                                        ledge of topics important. It is too bad that our politicians
                                        are not among them. Ah, but what can we say? Once a
                                        dullard, always a dullard.

                                        If you have bills to pay, groceries to buy, gas tanks to
                                        fill, but no money in the bank, wouldn't you think you
                                        had a real financial problem? If month after month,
                                        you cannot balance your home budget, and you can't
                                        borrow any more money because all of your credit 
                                        cards are maxed out, wouldn't alarm bells go off in
                                        your head? Of course, they would, and right now
                                        millions of families in America are faced with these
                                        problems.

                                        Unfortunately, our federal government is faced with 
                                        similar financial burdens, but its dilemma is now 16 
                                        trillion times worse than any middle class homeowner's
                                        misfortune.

                                        In 2013, if the Democrats remain in power, we are
                                        surely likely to add another 4 trillion dollars to our
                                        national debt and further pull our country into an
                                        an economic abyss, with absolutely no hope of
                                        recovery.
                                        
                                        If the Republicans gain the White House 
                                        and both houses of Congress, there's a slim
                                        chance that they could stop our national debt from
                                        sliding the U. S. into an economic oblivion. But the 
                                        chance is slim, very slim, indeed.

                                        Back in October, 2012 I consulted my guess-o-meter,
                                        and picked the very exact day (November 16, 2011).
                                        that America's debt would excede 15 trillion dollars.
                            
                                        I then predicted that we would pass $16 trillion on Sept. 
                                        16, 2012. This time, my guess-o-meter was 12 days late.
                                        But, by landing on the opening day (September 4, 2012)
                                        of the Democratic National Convention, proof was given
                                        that irony was still alive and well.

                                        This time, my trusty (?) meter predicts we shall pass the
                                        17 trillion dollar mark on June 16, 2013. (But with QE3
                                        just implemented today by Mr. Bernake, the threshold 
                                        could come much sooner).
    
                                        Have you ever stood by the shore of Niagra Falls?
                                        Just asking.