Debt of Dishonor. (Insider report).

The $127 billion surplus the federal government posted during the fiscal year that ended on September 30th (fiscal year 2001) would be good news -- if it were true. The claimed surplus is dubious to say the least, however, since during the same period the gross federal debt increased by $133 billion -- from $5,674 billion to $5,807 billion.

The "surplus" calculation involves a sleight-of-hand in which the government's financial wizards ignore the government's raiding of social security and other trust funds. In their view we really do owe it to ourselves.

The real issue, however, is neither the amount of the deficit or surplus, nor the level of taxation. It is the size of the unconstitutionally bloated federal government. Were the federal behemoth reduced to its constitutionally mandated limits, its cost would shrink by an estimated four-fifths, and the national debt could be paid off quite easily. But don't expect politicians, most of whom earn a living bribing the American public with their own money, to propose this remedy any time soon.