Did anyone get their 1040 Booklet (forms and instructions)?

[wadestock]

If so please tell me what the "net interest on the debt" percentage of the pie is under OUTLAYS.

A lot of web searching has gotten me nowhere. This would be on the page which is titled, "Major Categories of Federal Income and Outlays for Fiscal Year 2003".

I have heard various rumors about it being as high as 20%, but this can't be right. I can't be sure of this, but it appears to me that this number has been purposefully given little to no attention.

I imagined it might be around 12% considering current total debt....it was 8% in 2002.

The proportion of every single tax dollar paid for interest on the debt will no doubt go up to 20% or more by the time W heads back to the ranch.

Here's what we all have to fear:

1. These interest payments will progressively go up, not down, due to irresponsible financial management on the part of the administration. In the past, America has been responsible enough to get a handle on its debt and "turn the corner" as far as paying these debts down. For instance, our WWII debt was effectively paid off by 1964. If we had continued with 90s tax policies throughout 2000-2008, we would have potentially succeeded in reversing the irresponsibility of the 80s. Now, the mountain is becoming just too steep to climb.

2. When interest payments total over 300B and perhaps become the second largest outlay prior to W leaving office, we'll be in what could be considered a permanently damaged economic condition. What is now clear evidence of our capitalism going awry (slipping jobs, wages, health care, infrastructure, etc) will soon become a real way of life as the government literally has no money to pay for anything except defense and interest on the debt. Any surprise they have to eliminate Social Security from the table?

3. As the world looks at these facts and the deficit becomes more difficult to finance, we run the risk of actually not being able to effectively re-finance the debt and/or interest rates will be forced to go higher. All these factors spell the possibility of a long and hard recession.

What's it going to take to reach a consensus that we have to pull some money down from the top of the heap to finance this debt?