I have a several part question relating to the federal budget of the
United States. Information I want to know pertains to FY 2004 but
historical data to compare to would also be great. I'd like to know
how much the national debt was and how large the debt was as a percent
of the federal budget. I'd also like to know how much mone was spent
out of the federal budget to pay the interest on the national debt and
if any money at all was spent to pay off the principle of the debt.

I'll add that in my research i came across this:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy04/pdf/budget.pdf
but it didn't have all the answers I was looking for. Or if they were
there I wasn't able to accurately extract them from the document.
Thanks!

Hi cheeziologist,

Yes, there's no lack of information out there about the Federal Budget
and the National Debt - following are links to your specific
questions.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

>>>>>>>>>
"How much the national debt was"

The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It:
05/10/2004:  $7,136,491,126,797.91
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpdodt.htm

Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual
1950 - 2000
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdhisto4.htm
1900 - 1949
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdhisto3.htm
1850 - 1899
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdhisto2.htm
1791 - 1849
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdhisto1.htm

Gross Federal Debt History:
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/fed-debt.html

>>>>>>>>>
"How large the debt was as a percent of the federal budget"

What is the Treasury Department's position on increasing the debt limit?:
"Further, despite the debt limit?s conceptual emptiness, the steady
growth of the trust funds - from less than 25 percent of total federal
debt in 1990 to 42 percent in 2003 and projected to rise to 45 percent
by 2009 - guarantees perennial debt limit strife no matter how frugal
Congress chooses to be in the budget process."
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/markets/national-debt.html#q8

>>>>>>>>>
"How much money was spent out of the federal budget to pay the
interest on the national debt"

Interest Expense on the Debt Outstanding:
2004:
March  	$ 12,755,485,706.79   	 
March 	14,096,687,261.36  	 
February 	15,150,706,352.06  	 
January 	13,004,064,259.60  	 
December 	82,435,960,974.56  	 
November 	19,292,044,501.20  	 
October 	13,311,682,915.94  	 
  	  	  ----------------------  	 
FISCAL Year Total 	$ 170,046,631,971.51  	

Available Historical Data
FISCAL Year End
2003 	$318,148,529,151.51  	 
2002 	$332,536,958,599.42  	 
2001 	$359,507,635,242.41  	 
2000 	$361,997,734,302.36  	 
1999 	$353,511,471,722.87  	 
1998 	$363,823,722,920.26  	 
1997 	$355,795,834,214.66  	 
1996 	$343,955,076,695.15  	 
1995 	$332,413,555,030.62  	 
1994 	$296,277,764,246.26  	 
1993 	$292,502,219,484.25  	 
1992 	$292,361,073,070.74  	 
1991 	$286,021,921,181.04  	 
1990 	$264,852,544,615.90  	 
1989 	$240,863,231,535.71  	 
1988 	$214,145,028,847.73  	 
http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdint.htm

>>>>>>>>>
"If any money at all was spent to pay off the principle of the debt"

Pay Down the Federal Debt:
"With the advent of surpluses, the United States has begun to make
real progress in paying down its debt. During 1998?2000, debt held by
the public fell from $3.8 trillion to $3.4 trillion?a $363 billion
drop. By the end of this year, more than $200 billion in additional
reduction is due to be achieved.
The President's plan will accelerate this trend to record rates by
retiring an historic $2 trillion in debt over the next 10 years. Under
the President's budget, the national debt will be only seven percent
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011, its lowest share in more than
80 years."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/usbudget/blueprint/bud01.html

>>>>>>>>>

Additional Links of Interest:

13. FEDERAL BORROWING AND DEBT
Table 13?1. TRENDS IN FEDERAL DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC
Table 13?2. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCING AND DEBT
Total, gross Federal debt (in billions of dollars):
2002 (actual)  : 6,198.4 
2003 (estimate): 6,752.0 
2004 (estimate): 7,320.8 
2005 (estimate): 7,837.5 
2006 (estimate): 8,353.4 
2007 (estimate): 8,857.5 
2009 (estimate): 9,387.7
Table 13?3 AGENCY DEBT
Table 13?4. DEBT HELD BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS 
Table 13?5. FEDERAL FUNDS FINANCING AND CHANGE IN DEBT SUBJECT TO STATUTORY LIMIT
Table 13?6. FOREIGN HOLDINGS OF FEDERAL DEBT
14. THE PRESIDENT?S BUDGET REFORM PROPOSALS
Table 14?1. PROPOSED DISCRETIONARY SPENDING FOR 2004 AND 2005
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2004/pdf/spec.pdf

The Federal Budget: A Primer:
http://www.truthandpolitics.org/budget-basics.php

>>>>>>>>>>>>

I hope I've been able to sort this out for you. If you have any
questions, please post a clarification request before closing/rating
my answer and I'll be happy to reply.

Thank you,
hummer

Google Search Terms Used:

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"united states "paying down the debt"
"united states budget" "payments on principle"
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etc.

Thank you very much hummer. I really appreciate the quick and thorough answer.

Dear cheeziologist,

Thank you for your nice note, rating, and tip - I appreciate them all.
Sincerely, hummer