Right Now

Read the entire speech here

The national debt is currently $12.1 trillion, more than $39,000 per citizen.

This year’s deficit is expected to reach $1.5 trillion, which would mark the third straight record annual deficit. The Administration projects the deficit will remain above $1 trillion in 2011 and will not drop below $739 billion over the next decade.

The federal government is now borrowing 43 cents for every dollar it spends. $4.8 trillion of the $9 trillion in debt the government will likely accrue over the next ten years will be interest.

Retirement programs like Medicare and Social Security are on the verge of bankruptcy. Medicare is expected to run out of money and become insolvent in 2017. Social Security will permanently start running a deficit in 2016, and will no longer be able to pay retirees full benefits by 2037. Other important government programs Americans rely on nearly every day, such as the Highway Trust Fund and the U.S. Postal Service, are also spending more than they are bringing in with revenues.

The economy is struggling, unemployment is at 10 percent, and inflation is near zero.

Last year, family incomes fell by more than three percent.

Most of the country faces tough financial times, the federal coffers are nearly empty, and yet, Congress continues to approve double-digit spending increases for bloated federal agencies wrought with waste, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer funding.

Even more, this year Congress gave itself a 5.8 percent ($245 million) raise, far outpacing the negative growth in family budgets.