National Debt Clock in Times Square runs out of digits.

[abhijit]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7660409.stm

The US government's debts have ballooned so badly the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the spiralling figure.

The digital counter marks the national debt level, but when that passed the $10 trillion point last month, the sign could not display the full amount.

[kregg]

Oh god.

[abhijit]

Oh god.

Didn't Mr Brown pledge like 500 bn pounds?

[timeshifter]

Yeah.. change your thread title. It's not world debt. It's US debt. Thank Bush.

[abhijit]

Yeah.. change your thread title. It's not world debt. It's US debt. Thank Bush.

Can I edit it now?

[capsulecorpjx]

[timeshifter]

Indeed he did...

[wossname]

Why don't they just hire a couple of dozen tramps to hold up bits of cardboard with numbers painted on? That would help the tramps out of debt and relieve the national crisis.

Hmm that would put the tramps out of work again! It's a paradox!!!

[mendhak]

If they don't replace the clock, then the debt can't possibly go up. Besides, shouldn't the clock just reset to 0?

[abhijit]

Why don't they just hire a couple of dozen tramps to hold up bits of cardboard with numbers painted on? That would help the tramps out of debt and relieve the national crisis.

Hmm that would put the tramps out of work again! It's a paradox!!!

Tramps would get out of their shelters for that kind of money.

[Lord Orwell]

Yeah.. change your thread title. It's not world debt. It's US debt. Thank Bush.

he may have made it worse, but we've been spiraling out of control since Carter.

[BillGeek]

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

I'm confused, why are you laughing?

[BillGeek]

I'm confused

There there... *pat*

[Torc]

I am slightly confused about two things.

1) When they first set it up the US National Debt was $2 trillion, why did they not include an extra digit then, did they not consider getting further into debt?

2) It has obviously been approaching the $10 trillion mark for some time, why did no one thing of replacing it, say, last year.

[timeshifter]

he may have made it worse, but we've been spiraling out of control since Carter.

Also consider that Bush alone doubled the national debt in his eight years. It takes skill to pull something like that off.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

There there... *pat*

..

[kregg]

Didn't Mr Brown pledge like 500 bn pounds?

Oh God.

[Lord Orwell]

Also consider that Bush alone doubled the national debt in his eight years. It takes skill to pull something like that off.

his percentage increase has only averaged 7% a year, while carter averaged 9%. I am not blaming carter though. He entered at a bad time, and he actually made the hard decisions necessary to bring inflation, etc. under control. His payback? He lost reelection to Reagan.

The truth? Whenever one side or the other (democrat or republican) is completely in control of all three branches of the government, there is no stopping the spending. Clinton managed to balance the budget because congress was republican controlled. It's been republican controlled ever since. There's a reason Bush has never vetoed anything. It's his congress.

oh and i almost forgot: The $ was printed on a digit. They taped a painted $ on to the front of the sign and made the digit a number 1. Problem solved!

[szlamany]

Also consider that Bush alone doubled the national debt in his eight years. It takes skill to pull something like that off.

Actually the rule of 72 says he should have been able to do it in 7.2 years...

It's not Bush's congress right now...

110th congress: The Democrats control a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.

Which must mean we better avoid a democrat for president - heh

[Lord Orwell]

Actually the rule of 72 says he should have been able to do it in 7.2 years...

It's not Bush's congress right now...

Which must mean we better avoid a democrat for president - heh

no kidding. I misspoke earlier. Bush has in fact vetoed one bill, and it was since the democrats won majority.

Ok quick question for those intelligent:

Let's assume 10% of the bills put forth in congress are from far left or far right nutcases. Mccain just so happens to have voted along party lines 90% of the time. Obama has voted along party lines 97% of the time (sheep). By the first assumption you must come to realize that he IS far to the extreme.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

America is bleeped. Thank goodness people will almost always need computers. And therefore programs.

[Arrow_Raider]

The world is scheduled to end in 2012 anyways.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

America is bleeped. Thank goodness people will almost always need computers. And therefore programs.

Bleeped? I think I liked it better with the asterisks..

[Lord Orwell]

i think it's kind of frightening to note that when they added the new digit they called it a "temporary solution". This implies it will need a new one really soon...

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

Maybe if they use a smaller font they can fit 2 numbers in each panel

[kregg]

The world is scheduled to end in 2012 anyways.

[Lord Orwell]

hmm for some reason i figured it was more like this...

(finds him knocked out, checks to make sure no one saw anything...)
"YEAH! HE GOT LIPPY AND I SHOWED HIM! MR SATAN RULEZ!"

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

I just have a funny mental image of that little bird opening its mouth and some huge godzilla roar coming out.

[Arrow_Raider]

Please don't ever mention your mental images again. Perhaps that one wasn't too bad, but who knows what kinds of scary stuff goes on in your head.

[mendhak]

I just have a funny mental image of that little bird opening its mouth and some huge godzilla roar coming out.

More mental images. More!

[BillGeek]

No offense to wossy, but for some reason this picture reminds me of your avatar.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

My god man! I think you've found the true wossy! And it's hot! Well, sorta..

[BillGeek]

Hot?

I will never be able to look at that image again...

[Lord Orwell]

Hot?

I will never be able to look at that image again...

please god let it be the woman he meant...

That's the way cats look when you're taking their temperature... She's obviously a vet.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

Of course i meant the woman!!!!!! And now I can't stop laughing like an idiot at starbucks when I look at the picture.

[Kasracer]

Also consider that Bush alone doubled the national debt in his eight years. It takes skill to pull something like that off.

You do realize that's not true, correct? You were just trolling, right? Bush is partially to blame for our debt but there are many many other factors including all the junk both parties pass in congress.

i think it's kind of frightening to note that when they added the new digit they called it a "temporary solution". This implies it will need a new one really soon...

They already announced a new clock with two additional digits. This should cover us up to $9 quadrillion

[abhijit]

They already announced a new clock with two additional digits. This should cover us up to $9 quadrillion

That's one way of fixing the problem.

[MaximilianMayrhofer]

Repaying the national debt doesn't even come up as an option

[Lord Orwell]

Repaying the national debt doesn't even come up as an option

well you know how it is... that would actually require either cutting spending on pet projects each voter area wants for themselves, or raising taxes. Either method will get them voted out of office. This is why Carter didn't get re-elected. He had actually stopped run-away inflation but his hard-made decisions were so unpopular, he didn't have a chance against Reagan. People voted an ACTOR into office instead.

People can blame the politicians all they want for the nation's problems, but when it comes to fixing them, no one will do their part without bitching. When it comes right down to it, here are a few things that probably should be done:

Nation's interstate system is designed for commerce and military use. Automobiles should be required to pay a toll for interstate use.

The tax code should be changed to have a flat tax period. No deductions for babies, etc. Everyone pays their own share, and let's face it, the more money you make, the more tax you will be paying anyway. But for some reason lower income people think it's not fair unless rich people pay 50% tax while they pay 20% or in some cases nothing.

parks that aren't self-supporting through visitation fees, etc should be closed. This includes city parks.

all automakers that sell cars in the U.S. should be forced to sell only hybrids by 2012. The added equipment for next-gen hybrids is estimated to add approximately $2000 to the cost of a new car (source) and how long will it take for triple-the-mileage in-city to affect foreign oil consumption?

These are just a few ideas.

Here's a few questions for others to research:
A politician recently said the U.S. had enough natural gas to last 140 years and we need to convert cars to run on it.
q: Is this 140 years at current consumption or at planned consumption after all cars?

if a gallon of crude creates a fixed amount of gas, oil, diesel, etc, all in the same process, what will happen if we start making cars diesel? Will we destroy the supply?