Ed Case: “$6,198 trillion, $6,198,000,000,000, a lot of money. An almost inconceivable amount of money. So many zeros that it is…”

“$6,198 trillion, $6,198,000,000,000, a lot of money. An almost inconceivable amount of money. So many zeros that it is easy to pretend that it is paper money which, of course it is not, but that is how much our gross national debt was, how much our government owed, how much we owed in real money to our Social Security trust fund, to our bondholders and to many foreign countries, including China, when I was first elected to this Congress in late 2002, a lot of debt to have built up since the founding of our country. But how about this number, $7.775 trillion, our total debt today? Yes. In just the 28 months since I was first elected to this Congress, we have seen a 25 percent increase in national debt. But wait a minute, if that is not bad enough try this one, $8.184 trillion, the current maximum permissible debt of our country. The debt ceiling has increased for a third time in as many years, voted on by this Congress or at least by a majority, and a majority that did not include me, just a few months ago, currently estimated to be reached and breached in January 2006. An increase in our total national debt of 32 percent in just the 3 years since I joined this Congress. But wait.…”