BUT, MR. SECRETARY GEITHNER, HOW CAN WE DRAW THE RIGHT CONCLUSION?

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner ripped Standard & Poor’s two days after the ratings agency downgraded US debt, saying the stunning move was based on a “lack of knowledge” about the nation’s finances.

“S&P has shown really terrible judgment and they’ve handled themselves very poorly,” he said according to CNBC. “And they’ve shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic U.S. fiscal budget math. And I think they drew exactly the wrong conclusion from this budget agreement.”

You have a “10 year” budget agreement with trillions here and trillions there and a debt ceiling that won’t last 16 months, Mr. Secretary. Perhaps, unlike you, Mr. Secretary, Standard and Poor’s, with a “stunning lack of knowledge,” are really are like the rest of us.

We have the facts Mr. Secretary. We just need a way to understand —oh wait, Mr. Secretary, I remember someone explained it something like this:

For this year, 2011 (or is it 2012) well, either way the

Federal budget is $3,820,000,000,000
Federal income is: $2,170,000,000,000
New 2011 (or 2012) debt is: $ 1,650,000,000,000
Present National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Well no wonder we —and apparently Standard and Poor’s— can’t understand these numbers you deal in Mr. Secretary. Perhaps, if we put it into terms that work for “TurboTax,” we could understand. It seems, if we just move our decimal eight (8) places to the left we have a more normal “TurboTax” family. Let’s try it:

Total 2011 (0r 2012) annual family income: $21,700
Total 2011 (or 2012) family spending: $38,200
Amount of new debt added to family credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from the family budget: $385

Well there, thank you Mr. Secretary, . . . OH MY LORD! Look, it’s clear. Standard and Poor’s did have a stunning knowledge and used the same “TurboTax’ judgment as any regular American family. Our regular “TurboTax” family, call ‘em the Geithners, will need to sell the boat and lake property, sell all the cars except that 2002 Toyota Corolla, and, perhaps, get a smaller house—cut spending at least $18,000.

Well, I’m sure President Obama can explain it to you Mr. Secretary.