Paula Deen, Twinkies, And The National Debt
Paula Deen is an American celebrity television chef. Part of her appeal for fans has been her cheerful use of butter and sugar in her recipes, without apparent concern for the risks of a high-fat diet.
On January 17, 2012, Deen revealed that she’d been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes three years ago. She’s now a paid spokesperson for a drug company. What’s she being paid to promote? Their diabetes management program.
This idea that one can “have it all” and never pay a price sounded familiar. The same idea is reflected in United States fiscal policy: that as a country, we can go on spending and not worry about our ever-growing debt. In his January 24th State of the Union address, President Obama showed little interest in preaching austerity during an election year.
I thought all this called for a cartoon. I threw in a big Twinkie for extra symbolism.
You’re probably thinking: he should have used Fed Debt, not Fed Deficit. You’re right: Federal Debt would have been the better choice.
Why? A deficit is an annual figure: if you spend more than you take in for a given year, the result is a deficit for that year. Debt is the cumulative total of all one’s annual deficits.
The current United States Federal Debt is more than 15 and a quarter trillion dollars. It increases at a rate of more than $39,000 per second.
Here’s a larger detail image of the cartoon.
What do you think? Should Paula Deen have let viewers know immediately when she was diagnosed with diabetes? Are high-fat diets and deficit spending both forms of denial? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
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