Why the federal debt won’t be paid off – EVER!

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Fiat money or fiat currency, usually paper money, is a type of currency whose only value is that a government made a fiat (i.e. decreed) that the money is a legal method of exchange. Unlike commodity money or representative money it is not based in another commodity such as gold or silver and is not covered by a special reserve. Fiat money holds its value so long as holders of the currency feel that they can find an exchange partner for it at some later time. Fiat money, by definition, does not have any intrinsic value, nor is it backed by anything other than the confidence holders have in the economy which is covered by the government which decrees it to have value. Its value lies solely in the expectation of later use. Most currencies in the world as of 2004 are fiat monies. However, the situation with major currencies, such as the euro, the United States dollar and the Swiss franc is more complex.

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If debt was a great thing for the economy, why are the S&P folks downgrading the US's credit worthiness?

From the founding of the country until 1913 and the creation of the Fed, "Everyday Average Joe's" money had the same buying power.  Basically a "dollar" bought the same amount in 1890 as it did in 1790.

Since 1913, the "dollar" has lost over 95% of it's value.

Back then if "Everyday Average Joe's" wanted to save money for the future, all they had to do was to stack up silver and gold coins...they would increase in value, or at the very least be "worth" as much as when he started ac***ulating them...could you do that with "dollars" today?...the question answers itself.

Today, "Everyday Average Joe's" have to gamble in the markets with their retirement just to keep up.

Everytime the Fed increases the money supply, it reduces the value of the money in "Everyday Average Joe's" wallet...it is an evil hidden tax...the Fed expands the money supply for the government to "buy" more and spend more...without "paying" for it with direct taxes...it pays for it by reducing our purchasing power.

What you have described is an evil, insidious monetary system that benefits the politicians and politcally connected rich...and destroys the wealth of "Everyday Average Joe".

Question:  If someone offered you $5000 in cash or $5000 in gold and silver at today's prices...free and clear...it's your $5000.  Either cash or in gold and silver.  The only catch is...You have to WAIT five years before you spend it.

Which would you take?

Talking about the "price of gold" is starting at the wrong end of the horse. An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold. If the price of gold expressed in Federal Reserve Note "dollars" is high, that is an indication of the size of the pile of FRNs you must have to exchange them for gold. The more of something you have, the less valuable it becomes.

Yes, this is exactly what I said...except when the Fed prints money or adds zeros to some politically connected institution's bank account, they get the "use" of the dollar at current value.  When it filters out into the economy...inflation...and less "value" for the money in the average person's wallet.

It's a hidden, unseen tax...then when inflation hits, of course spend happy politicians will blame the "economic troubles" on "capitalism" or "free markets" or some other nonsense...they'll blame everything except the real culprits:  corporatism, neo-merchantilism, artificial interest rates, monopoly on the money supply...just about every aspect of the economy interferred with by the government. 

Guess when we went off the gold standard...