$31,406 Per Household

Washington will spend $31,406 per household in 2010. It will collect $18,276 per household in taxes. The $13,130 represents this year's budget deficit per household, an increase of $5,000 since 2008.

Too many people are saying we can fix this by raising taxes.

Of course, the GDP is $125,000 per household. That leaves us $95,000 each to spend still, right?

Of course, it doesn't make sense. Converting everything into flat household-share averages, treating the economy as if all the nation's resources and income were equally distributed, is about the oldest and most misleading form of statistical trickery there is.