Thursday, March 31, 2011

Congressman Flake: So Just How Broke Are We?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Genevieve Frye Rozansky
March 29, 2011




So Just How Broke Are We?




Washington, D.C. - Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, today illustrated the size and scope of the growing national debt.


The Bronx Zoo announced on Saturday to a dismayed public that a 20-inch female Egyptian Cobra snake had gotten loose. After only a few days, chatter over the missing snake has reached a fever pitch. The snake now has its own Twitter handle @BronxZoosCobra.


Between 1999 and 2009, more than 7 million people came to visit the Zoo’s gorilla exhibit alone; an average of 1,918 daily. The U.S. is so broke that based on this number of adult visitors each day at $16 for each adult ticket, the Bronx Zoo would have to turn over its profits for 456 million days in order to pay down our massive $14 trillion debt.


“Can’t we just get Harry Potter to call the snake home?” said Flake.

Along with Senators McCain and Rubio, Congressman Flake introduced in the 112th Congress the Debt Buy-Down Act, which allows taxpayers to designate up to 10 percent of their federal income tax liability to reduce the national debt. The bill then requires Congress to reduce federal spending by that amount. More information on the Debt Buy-Down Act can be found here.


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