"Investments"

From Comeback America by David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States and former head of the Government Accountability Office:

Here's how to think of Washington's "investments." The federal government borrowed $787 billion as a "down payment" for the stimulus bill. That's right, there's not a dime of equity, and the entire amount was added to our national debt. Does that remind you of anything? How about all the Americans who made no down payments and took our subprime loans to finance homes they couldn't afford? Those irresponsible borrowing practices, abetted by all the middlemen making a quick buck, caused the subprime mortgage crisis. Now our government is acting like one of those irresponsible mortgagees.