From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Originally published Monday, June 8

The United States’ job “creation” figure in May was actually 345,000 jobs lost — bad, but less than the average loss for the previous six months. The Labor Department also reported Friday that the unemployment rate rose from 8.9 percent to 9.4 percent.

… The other worrisome tendency in the economy is that the national debt is growing at such a rate … that the interest paid by the government on that debt cuts into what is, in effect, America’s disposable income.

… The national debt now stands at $11.4 trillion and interest rates to finance it continue to rise. The rate on the basic 10-year Treasury note went from 2 percent at the beginning of the year to 3.54 percent now.

This is not necessarily an argument for cutting spending … but it does call into question what the United States is spending on overseas wars and it requires a sharp look at any future bailouts like that of General Motors.