The State of the Economy, brought to you by jackasses...and the City of Chicago (redundancy alert)

Too many people on the cart, not enough people pulling the cart!!

This is where our economy is right now. And the following figures, from John Mauldin's newsletter http://www.mauldineconomics.com/,  help to illustrate why:

In fiscal 2010, according to numbers published by the Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): 

Net spending by all levels of government in the United States was $5,942,988,401,000. 

That equals $50,074 per 118,682,000 households in the country.

The median household income was $49,445. 

Total net government spending per household $50,074 exceeded median household income of $49,445 by $629. 

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As recently as 2000, the relationship between government spending and household income was dramatically different. 

Data from the Census Bureau and the OMB show that in that year 

Total net government spending $3,239,913,876,000. 

That equals $29,941 per 108,209,000 households. 

The median household income was $41,990.

In 2000, the split in spending between households and government spending (on behalf of said households) was approx. 60/40 in favor of households.

In 2010, the split deteriorated to 50/50.

The problem is government gets the money it spends on behalf of said households from those same households. At what point do people say, "why am I working, just to hand over my paycheck to Uncle Sam?"

At least when I do the same with my wife, I get some residual benefits (wink, wink).  I'm not sure it's quite the same arrangement, although maybe there is a rough analogy there.

Speaking of analogies, this one is too good to pass up.

Chicago sinkhole swallows 3 cars in wake of massive rains

I though sinkholes were primarily a FL issue, but I guess not.