True U.S. debt exceeds world GDP by $14 trillion

As the Obama administration prepares to finance a Fiscal Year 2011 budget deficit expected to top $1.6 trillion, the American public is largely unaware that the true negative net worth of the federal government reached $76.3 trillion last year.

That figure was five times the 2010 gross domestic product of the United States and exceeded the estimated gross domestic product for the world by approximately $14.4 trillion.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. GDP for 2010 was $14.861 trillion. World GDP in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund, was $61.936 trillion.

"As government obligations continue to spiral out of control and the U.S. government shows no willingness to make the magnitude of spending cuts required to return to fiscal responsible, the U.S. economy is headed to a great collapse coming in the form of a hyper-inflationary great depression," says economist John Williams, author of the website Government Shadow Statistics.

Statistics generated in Williams' most recent newsletter demonstrate the real 2010 federal budget deficit was $5.3 trillion, not the $1.3 trillion previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office, according to the 2010 Financial Report of the United States Government as released by the U.S. Department of Treasury Feb. 26, 2010.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said Monday he will oppose any future votes to raise the federal debt ceiling until Congress adopts a viable, long-term plan to reduce the nation's deficit.

"I have never put together a budget -- be it my family's or as governor -- that was based on how much we wanted to spend, but on what we had," Manchin said during a speech at the University of Charleston, kicking off a weeklong statewide tour.

In Monday's speech, Manchin focused on facing national fiscal realities head-on, and on making tough decisions to bring the budget deficit under control.

"There are some in Washington who believe we can simply ignore the fiscal peril we face as a nation. They are wrong," Manchin said Monday. "I will not tell you that we can have everything we want and that there will be no cuts or sacrifice. That would be a lie. I will not stand here and tell you that figuring out our priorities is easy. It is not."

The Obama administration may need to call for an expansion of the debt ceiling later this spring to avoid potential defaults on the nation debt. The Treasury Department estimates the current debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion will be reached by May 31.

"We must get our fiscal house in order. We must be honest about what we value and what we need to spend your tax dollars on, not just what sounds good. We must be willing to make the difficult decisions," Manchin said.

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