Who'll Bail Out Uncle Sam?

CBS' Mark Knoller On The National Debt, And Who Picks Up the Tab

The federal government may seem like a financial knight on a white steed riding to the rescue of big companies in trouble. The irony is that Uncle Sam’s got enormous money problems of his own.

The government is far deeper in debt than any of the companies it’s bailing out.

As of this morning, the national debt stands at over $9.634 trillion. That’s trillion - with a "T." And that’s nearly $4 trillion more than it was on the day President Bush took office.

This year alone, it’s costing taxpayers more than $230 billion just to pay the interest on the national debt.

And it’s getting bigger every day thanks to the relentless rush of the government spending money it has to borrow. The federal deficit for the fiscal year ending September 30 is expected in the range of $400 billion - close to the all-time high.

In fact, the government doesn’t have the $85 billion needed to bailout insurance giant American International Group.