In America the government is (supposedly) an extension of the power and will of We The People. Therefore the government's decisions, including its spending decisions, are ours.
Our National Debt is currently: $12,590,461,291,178.68. (This and other figures from the National Debt Clock.) If you're like me that many commas is quite confusing. Add enough commas and any number lacks reality. Here's how you'd say it: Twelve trillion, five hundred ninety billion, four hundred sixty-one million, two hundred ninety-one thousand, one hundred seventy-eight dollars and sixty-eight cents. Even when you break it down that way it lacks reality. What does a trillion dollars look like, really? As I posted in my blog a while back, this is what a trillion bucks looks like. We've got 12.5 of those in debt.
There are approximately 308,018,536 Americans today. That means your share is: $40,875.66. That's breaking it down evenly for every man, woman, and child. When you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad, does it? I mean, who doesn't have the equivalent of a brand new 2010 Ford Mustang just lying around?
This might come as a surprise to you. How did this happen? Where did all this debt come from? If you enjoy watching paint dry, or find curling riveting, you might also enjoy looking at the numbers here. I, like approximately one full dozen of my American fellows, do enjoy curling, so I checked it out for you. Our debt, prior to the 20th century, rose and fell periodically. It would climb, we'd pay it off, it would climb, we'd pay it off. After the turn of the century it began to just climb. Then the New Deal happened.
See that sheer point that rises majestically over the plains like Kilimanjaro? That would be FDR's debt as expressed as a percentage of GDP. Note: It goes to almost 120%. From Wikipedia: "The buildup and involvement in World War II plus social programs during the F.D. Roosevelt and Truman presidencies in the 1930s and 40's caused a sixteenfold increase in the gross debt from $16 billion in 1930 to $260 billion in 1950." After that, debt "closely matched the rate of inflation" (in other words, constantly climbed).
It is easy to point fingers and lay blame. Sometimes, in the case of the New Deal and FDR, it may even be appropriate. The blame, however, does not rest solely on one side or the other. Saint Ronald and Bush I saw the debt quadruple. Under Dubya, "the increased [debt rose] from $5.6 trillion in January 2001 to $10.7 trillion by December 2008, rising from 58% of GDP to 70.2% of GDP". In March 2009, the CBO estimated that debt will rise from 70.2% in 2008 to a whopping 100.6% in 2012! I can only imagine the Magic O's policies are causing that number to rise dramatically.
Perhaps none of this is enough for faze you. "Your squiggly lines don't scare me!", you say? If so, brace yourself. I've got...a pie chart.
That is a little hard to read, but fortunately the two most important pieces are also the largest. The big blue monster is "Federal Reserve and Intragovernment holdings", at 49.37%. Note a lot of that is the bankrupt Social Security system. The next one is where it gets frightening. Orange = Foreign and International, 27.9%. Of course, our leaders in their infinite wisdom would only deal with those who are our friends. They would never deal with people who might wish us harm! That would be just silly. Right?
Correct you are. Rest easy, comrades, because the single country who owns the largest share of that debt is...You guessed it. Our best buddies, the
What's the big deal, though? Sure the government is spending money faster than a pirate in a liquor store, but why is this a problem?
Because debt doesn't just sit there. It earns interest. The more debt, the more interest. Breaking it down into crayons:
Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security suck up more money than even the catchall "other government programs" category, which is bad enough in itself. See that block in the middle? The one that's the same color as the lifeblood that's being leached out of your wallet? Leave the debt long enough, and it begins to grow to gargantuan proportions. Eventually, the government will be left with only two choices. Cut spending in other areas, or raise taxes dramatically.
The bottom line is this. You can only spend more money than you make for so long. That is true for all entities, whether you are an individual, a business, or a government. Eventually, fiscal irresponsibility will catch up with you.
The solution, of course, is ridiculously complicated. It's so complicated I couldn't possibly express it in words. I'm sure I'd need a dozen law degrees and years of political experience in order to grasp it, which leaves it way out of reach for a peasant like me. I'm going to try though. Ready? Congress:
Stop spending so much!
Strange. That didn't seem so complicated after all. Cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut Social Security, go back to that silly old document called the Constitution, and you'll be halfway there. None of this will ever happen, though, unless the real culprits are caught. It won't happen until the true scoundrels, the no-good scallywags who have allowed this to go on for decades are brought to justice. I'm sure you're itching to get your hands on the bastard who has spent your children into oblivion. Fortunately, he is within your reach. Simply go into your bathroom. Look over the sink.
No, not the lights. Lower. Not the pipes either, he isn't that skinny (statistically speaking). Yes, right there in the middle. That, my friends, is the mirror. It is reflecting the image of the person responsible for this mess: We The People.
So how about it? Are We The People going to arm ourselves with knowledge, get informed, get active, and hold our politicians accountable? Are we going to force them into responsibility by firing those who don't bend to our will? Or will we do as we've done for generations, bury our collective heads in the sand and allow the political class in Washington to buy us off with social programs and tax incentives?
The choice, and the fate of our beloved country, lies where it always has: With you.
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