>>>The $500 Billion is just the budget deficit for that budget which is for fiscal year 2005 that begins October 1st of this year. Each budget deficit contributes to the overall accrued debt or National Debt which continues to spiral.
>>
>>It seems like it was only a few months ago that they were talking about a huge surplus. Was it the war that changed this?
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>>Do you have approximate figures for the accumulated deficit?
>
>The National Debt Ceiling was raised to $7,384,000,000,000 on May 27, 2003. The figures for the actual total debt can be found here:
>
>http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/sheets/hist07z1.xls
>
>During Clinton's 8 years, contrary to popular belief, the gross National Debt increased by $1.6 TRILLION. Under Bush so far, the debt has increased $1.1 TRILLION. At the end of this fiscal year, the total gross debt is projected to slightly excede the current limit I gave above, so Congress will have to extend the ceiling again.
>
>Scary numbers indeed!

I have searched for some figures from the Netherlands.

The 'EMU-debtquote' (the GND) of the Netherlands has decreased in the past years. From 1994 till 2000 it decreased with 21% from 77,9% of the GND in 1994 to 56,1% GND in 2000. For the first time in 20 years it was less than 60%. In 2004 the GND will be even lower: 46% of the GND and this is 215.3 billion euros. This year's shortage will be 2.3 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2004. The government wants to lower it to 0.5 % in 2007.

There are 270 million U.S. citizens. There are 16 million Dutch citizens. 270/16*215 = 3,628,000,000,000. Although we should correct this number somewhat because it is based on a one-one relationship between euros and dollars.

Conclusion: The Dutch have half the debt of the U.S..