Barkley: National Debt Reaches Sad Milestone

Barkley: National Debt Hits a 'Sad Milestone'

As Debt Soars Past $10 Trillion, Debt Clock Runs Out of Digits

For Immediate Release
Contact: Christopher Truscott
ctruscott@senatorbarkley.com

PLYMOUTH—Dean Barkley, the Independence Party candidate for U.S. Senate, said the national debt has reached a "sad milestone" as the debt clock in New York has run out of digits.

"Unbelievable," Barkley said. "Who ever would have imagined $10 trillion wasn't a high enough number?"

According to an Associated Press report, the Durst Organization will add two digits to the clock next year, making it capable of measuring up to a quadrillion dollars.

"I hope it never comes to that," Barkley said. "But with the spending habits we've seen in Washington they might want to consider adding three digits—just in case."

Barkley has placed balancing the budget and paying down the debt at the forefront of his surging campaign. He challenged DFLer Al Franken and Republican Sen. Norm Coleman to do the same.

"This is about more than just numbers," Barkley said. "It's about our country. This crushing debt is strangling our economy and hamstringing our future."

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Barkley, a 58-year-old Minnesota native, served as the director of the Minnesota Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning under Gov. Jesse Ventura. In November 2002, Ventura appointed Barkley to fill the final two months of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone's term.

The former governor said recently that Barkley is "measured minute by minute … the most effective U.S. senator in Minnesota history."

More information is available online at www.senatorbarkley.com.