Page 83 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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No matter if the prediction is correct or not, this country is headed for an economic disaster and misfortune. It is
just a matter of timing. Independent of the slope of the curve continuing on a linear trend from 2008 or on an
accelerated prediction of 2017, there is no relief in site. There is no sign of repayment of this country’s debt. This
acceleration in debt is anticipated to occur when this country will again be at war in 2017 based upon signs in the
heavens (page 107). If you can remember that before 2001 this country was running on a budget surplus. This
nation refuses to call upon the name of the Lord. It must be man’s pride to think that he can overcome God.
This will mark the fall of this nation. It will be by this government not calling upon God in a time of need. You
can see God’s hand working based upon the Secretary of Defense nomination in 2013. Things must get worse
before we will turn from our wicked ways. The United States currency will eventually become highly inflated and
about worthless due to this government’s extensive spending. The U.S. currency is no longer backed by precious
metals such as gold or silver. What was the forecast prior to God’s Judgment of this nation? The Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) did summarize the cause of the change between its January 2001 which was estimated at
5.6 trillion dollars cumulative surplus between 2002 and 2011 and the actual 6.1 trillion dollars cumulative deficit.
This occurred as an unfavorable “turnaround” which resulted in the debt increasing by 11.7 trillion dollars. The
reason given was this was due to tax cuts and slower-than-expected growth. This reduced revenues by 6.1 trillion
dollars and spending was 5.6 trillion dollars higher. Of this total, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
attributes 72% to legislated tax cuts and spending increases and 27% to economic and technical factors. The
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economic factors accounted for 56% increase occurred from 2009 to 2011. Did God slow the growth?
Let us begin to take a look at the current debt. On 10 January 2013, debt held by the public was approximately
11.577 trillion dollars or about 73% of GDP. Intra-governmental holdings stood at 4.855 trillion dollars giving a
combined total public debt of 16.432 trillion dollars. As of July 2012, 5.3 trillion dollars or approximately 48% of
the debt held by the public was owned by foreign investors. The largest foreign investors were China and Japan
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at just over 1.1 trillion dollars each. Will foreign countries end up owning America? Historically, the U.S.
public debt as a share of GDP increased during wars and recessions, and subsequently declined. For example,
debt held by the public as a share of GDP peaked just after World War II which was 113% of GDP in 1945. It
then fell over the following 30 years. In recent decades large budget deficits and the resulting increases in debt
have led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the federal government's fiscal policies. 136

Debt Ceiling

The debt ceiling was increased on February 12, 2010, to 14.294 trillion dollars. On April 15, 2011, Congress
finally passed the 2011 United States federal budget, authorizing federal government spending for the remainder
of the 2011 fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2011, with a deficit of 1.48 trillion dollars without voting to
increase the debt ceiling. But, what happens when Congress disobeys its own laws? On September 8, 2011, one
of the complex mechanisms to further increase the debt ceiling took place when the Senate defeated a resolution
to block a 500 billion dollar automatic increase. The Senate's action allowed the debt ceiling to increase to 15.194
trillion dollars as agreed upon in the Budget Control Act. This was the third increase in the debt ceiling in 19
months, the fifth increase since President Obama took office, and the twelfth increase in 10 years. At midnight
on Dec. 31, 2012, a major provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) was scheduled to go into effect.
The crucial part of the Act provided for a Joint Select Committee of Congressional Democrats and Republicans,
the so-called “Super-committee,” to produce bipartisan legislation by late November 2012 that would decrease the
U.S. deficit by 1.2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. If no other deal was reached before Dec. 31, 2012, then
the massive government spending cuts would take effect. This included the tax increases by returning to tax
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levels prior to the Bush Administration. These were the elements that made up the United States fiscal cliff.

134 NYT-Bruce Bartlett-The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush-June 2012

135 United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt (December 2010).

136 "Federal Debt Held by the Public as a Share of GDP (1797-2010)"
137 Spetalnick, Matt (February 12, 2010). "Obama signs debt limit-paygo bill into law". Reuters.