What can be paid out is really the cash that Apple already has onshore in the US: effectively its accumulated US profits.

FORBES: Will Apple Raise The Dividend, Issue Prefs Or Buyback Stock?

The government is not drawing on accumulated savings or retained profits to fund its spending.

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By November 2007, Mr. Taylor was an equity-derivatives trader on Goldman's Capital Structure Franchise Trading desk and had lost a "significant portion" of the trading profits he had accumulated earlier that year, according to criminal charging documents filed by prosecutors Wednesday.

WSJ: Ex-Goldman Trader Pleads Guilty to Fraud