Facts That Make A Difference
1. IOU - As of March 4, 2009, the total U.S. federal debt was $10,942,165,294,650.89 or about $37,851 for each American (source: Treasury Debt To The Penny).
2. PROMISES PROMISES - On 7/19/03, then President George Bush urged Congress in his weekly radio address to “make spending discipline a priority, so that we can cut the deficit in half over the next 5 years.” On 2/23/09 at the beginning of his 1-day “fiscal responsibility summit” held with Democratic and Republican leaders along with outside experts, President Barack Obama pledged to “cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office” (source: White House). 
3. THE TARGET - The top 1% of wage earners took home 22.1% of all national income in 2006, up from 8.5% in 1980. This same group paid 39.9% of all federal income tax in 2006, up from 19.1% in 1980 (source: Tax Foundation). 
4. REALLY? - Today marks the 10-year anniversary of then Vice President Al Gore’s famous statement about the World Wide Web. In an interview on CNN television with Wolf Blitzer on 3/09/99, Gore said that “during my service in the US Congress, I took the initiative in creating the internet” (source: Financial Times). 
5. WAITING - 68% of Americans anticipate they will need to postpone their age of retirement by at least 2 years as a result of the bear market that hit US stocks beginning in October 2007 (source: Money).
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