Does the US government make any money of it's own?

[Tsaico]

I was thinking about some of this bailout stuff, and now it is proposed to climb into the trillion mark. Even at 700 billion not including any interest, my "share" of the taxes are way over what I will ever pay in a lifetime of working. I know there are some people who are obviously going to pay more tax than I (poorer than a plumber here), but at the same time, we are talking about more than a few million owed by every man, woman and child in america... even the illegal ones.

Does the US government ever sell it's technologies, services, or goods for a profit? Or is the entire bailout only funded by taxes?

 

[venkman]

NASA patents have made some decent change in the past IIRC.

 

[Gunslinger08]

$700 billion is only $3500 per worker in the US.

 

[txrandom]

The US government is now a shareholder in some banks. They can make money from dividends or the sell of the stock.

 

[Farang]

The entire federal deficit is about $33k owed by every resident.. change that to citizen taxpayer maybe its up in the $80k range. Not millions.

 

[preslove]

Post office, financial assets, land leases and probably others that I can't think of.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
$700 billion is only $3500 per worker in the US.

only $3500? no problemo! would you prefer cash, or amex black?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Originally posted by: preslove
Post office, financial assets, land leases and probably others that I can't think of.

FCC selling the airwaves after February.

 

[foghorn67]

they sell collector coins. And no, not the die of the 9-11 twenty dollar bill registered with Liberia.

 

[elmer92413]

Originally posted by: preslove
Post office, financial assets, land leases and probably others that I can't think of.

Isn't the post office losing money? and not even owned by the government anymore?

 

[erub]

Originally posted by: joshsquall

Originally posted by: preslove
Post office, financial assets, land leases and probably others that I can't think of.

FCC selling the airwaves after February.

damn, first thing that came to mind, although the TV frequencies going off the air in Feb have already been sold, mostly to T-Mobile. They sell/grant licenses for all spectrum.

I bet/hope? they also make some money off of patent filings, that it doesn't cost that much to approve them as people pay to file them.

 

[Train]

Federal Fines (FCC, SEC, DOJ, etc) though I doubt any of those departments doll out enough fines to cover thier own budgets.

The Post Office turns a profit, not sure if that goes back to the Fed or USPS keeps it.

The US Mint is extremely profitable, they not only make US currency, but also do a lot of collector type stuff and do currencies for a lot of other countries because of our ability to make the best paper money.

 

[rudeguy]

Don't forget all the money the states send in.

 

[Tsaico]

Your right, I am retarded, I after I posed, I was thinking, how could that be? That number was way to high. In my quick scratch, I put in three too many 0's. Idiots like me should be forced to pay other's shares.

 

[hehatedme]

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org...nd/numbers/revenue.cfm

 

[brxndxn]

The Federal Reserve charges interest on all of the money it 'loans' and uses it to pay a 6% dividend to the member banks. After that, the leftover 'profit' is supposedly turned over to the Federal Government.

 

[darkxshade]

I'm sure if it came to it, they could always put the white house up on the auction block, that could fetch billions.

 

[Imdmn04]

They sell military technologies to Jews in order to displace people that were there first.

 

[Regs]

They sell bonds for cash. In todays world they're worth nothing right about now.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: Train
Federal Fines (FCC, SEC, DOJ, etc) though I doubt any of those departments doll out enough fines to cover thier own budgets.

The Post Office turns a profit, not sure if that goes back to the Fed or USPS keeps it.

The US Mint is extremely profitable, they not only make US currency, but also do a lot of collector type stuff and do currencies for a lot of other countries because of our ability to make the best paper money.

fines don't cover the paper they're printed on. the money goes into the big bucket, unless specifically earmarked, like environmental cleanup.

the federal reserve is not a government office.

usps and amtrak are federally owned, but run as private companies. usps barely breaks even (entirely due to all the bulk mail sent out) while amtrak is a money hole.

the us mint will be happy to sell you 1,000 quarters for $310.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
They sell military technologies to Jews in order to displace people that were there first.

no, "they" don't. arms, vehicles, and technologies are sold by the companies that produce them, on a restricted basis, to foreign nations.

and, displacing people that were there first is as older than the holy land itself. last time i checked, isreal exists, and palestine doesn't. has that changed?

 

[Passions]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
They sell military technologies to Jews in order to displace people that were there first.

:thumbsdown:

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
$700 billion is only $3500 per worker in the US.

Unfortunately, it is higher than you think. There are 153.1 million (includes unemployed) (2007 est.) indicates that roughtly $5879 per worker (include unemployed) in the US.

United States public debt -- Wikipedia

The US National Debt is greater than $10 trillions ($5.3 trillion is private debt), and additional liabilities of $59.1 trillion (Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, veterans' pensions, and similar obligations).

The total liability that the working public owe work out to be $69,100,000,000,000.00 or roughly $451,338.99 per worker (include unemployed).

Just hope that this credit crunch doesn't wipe out much of the equity/investment/retirement fund that the US hold, because the total liability is staggering.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Not many government actually make money. Governments are setup to spend public money.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa

Originally posted by: joshsquall
$700 billion is only $3500 per worker in the US.

Unfortunately, it is higher than you think. There are https://www.cia.gov/library/pu...tbook/fields/2095.html">153.1 million (includes unemployed) (2007 est.)</a> indicates that roughtly $5879 per worker (include unemployed) in the US.

United States public debt -- Wikipedia

The US National Debt is greater than $10 trillions ($5.3 trillion is private debt), and additional liabilities of $59.1 trillion (Medicaid, Social Security, Medicare, veterans' pensions, and similar obligations).

The total liability that the working public owe work out to be $69,100,000,000,000.00 or roughly $451,338.99 per worker (include unemployed).

Just hope that this credit crunch doesn't wipe out much of the equity/investment/retirement fund that the US hold, because the total liability is staggering.

But figuring that 95% of the tax burden is held by 1% of the population, the median avg would only be about 20k, and since a lot of payments arent due yet (medicare pensions etc will be paid out many years into the future) an additional 20k from now until death is chump change for most taxpayers.