That's right. The amount of money that the Federal Government has either spent, lent or guaranteed is $12.8 TRILLION. That is a figure that approaches the total Gross Domestic Product. The 2008 GDP for the entire nation was $14.2 Trillion. That is $42,105 for every man, woman and child in America.
Think of it this way. The Government just put one of those coffee cans at the front desk of every company in the US, with Timothy Geithner's picture on it. Below his sad looking picture are the words, "Can you help poor little Timmy have a productive life? Little Timmy is in dire condition and without your sacrifice, he might not make it". The only difference is that this little "donation can", has a Dr. Evil sized magnet at the bottom of the can. Every single, solitary dollar that is produced by every company in the US is sucked into the Government "donation" can.
Welcome to Bizzaro world.