National Debt Essay
Content
Scott Lindorfer May 6, 2011 Economics Period 5b Mr. Cushing The National Debt The national debt of the United States of America is a massive problem that plagues our government and citizens alike. The national debt is something that has existed since the United States were created. It is a result of running an unbalanced budget. The debt has fluctuated going up and down as a result of things like war and economic hardships. It always managed to stay or quickly get back to a (somewhat) reasonable level, but in the twentieth century that started to change. The debt skyrocket in the time of the great depression, but it was quickly able to drop back to an almost non existent. In the last few decades of the twentieth century that the debt started to get very large as people started to live longer and retire earlier, meaning the government had to pay out more in social security and put more into other programs. In the final years of the century, President Clinton was able to balance the budget, making it possible to start paying back the massive debt. The country was on track to run a surplus for at least the next 25 years. When George W. Bush came into the office of the president, (to oversimplify it) he saw this surplus and decided the country was financially stable enough to give tax breaks and start programs from health care and such. On top of that, the country became involved in the very expensive war on terror. In the beginning of this century, the debt has skyrocketed to levels that almost seem unrecoverable. It certainly takes a lot of work and money to run a country, so it is understandable that there would be some need to borrow from other countries in times of need, but it is simply ridiculous
for the government to dig the country into a 14 trillion dollar hole, with no way to get out. When the fact that interest has to be payed on this debt is added in, it seems that the only option to keeping the country a float and the citizens safe and sound is to dig deeper, as the governments need for money is rather obvious considering all of the programs and departments that exist right now. Things aren’t always as they seem though, as the recent documentary I.O.U.S.A. demonstrates very clearly. Through Social Security, tax, and defense reform, the government could easily stop running a deficit budget and start paying back the national debt, one dollar at a time if thats what it takes. Social Security is a massive contributor to the national debt. Social security is a system where people pay part of there earnings into a pool, and they will receive pay from this pool when they retire after age 65. When this was started, it worked rather well as the life expectancy was about 70 so most people only received five years of it. Now the life expectancy is much higher, around 80, so people get social security for close to or all the way to the 15 year maximum. With this changed life expectancy, why should retirement age not change. Its a nice idea to let people rest once they have worked for there whole life but it does not work as it is. If people are capable of working, there is no reason for them not to work, in fact, it is probably better for there health, which in turn helps deal with the health care aspect of the national debt. The current system of taxing individuals is in need of a huge reform in order to help fight the national debt. RIght now, the rich people in America are getting tax breaks while the poor people are suffering more than ever as a result of the “Bush era tax cuts”.
Currently people only pay certain taxes, such as social security tax, on the money they make up to about one hundred thousand dollars. If that was changed so people payed these taxes on all the money they make, that would do some serious damage to the national debt. It doesn’t make sense that if you make more money, you should get to keep more of it, where as if you make less money, you have to pay taxes on all of it. Another major problem in America is defense spending. Safety of course is a high priority, and should be ensured at any cost. The fact of the matter, however, is that America is not in a financial position to be fighting the war on terrorism to the current extant, spread out all over the middle east and beyond. American Military personal and civilians of the countries America is in are dying senselessly every day, and the world is less safe today than it ever has been before. The war on terrorism needs to be scaled down a large amount if America is to have any hope for balancing the national budget and starting to pay back the national debt. America needs to start work now at recovering some of the ground lost. If your in a whole and you keep digging, it just gets deeper and eventually there is no hope to climb out and the only option is to starve till you death. This is seriously the predicament America is in right now, and it is extremely urgent. Major reforms need to be made to Social Security, Taxes, and Defense as well as many other departments and responsibilities of the government. As an individual, it is rather sad how little I can do. I can however inform everyone I know and start a grass roots campaign that includes calling senators, writing letters, and all the other stuff people do in large mobs to get stuff done. I can also make sure I vote in all elections so that my (rather small) voice is
heard. What I am already doing is praying everyday that this one nation under God truly is indivisible, and some day soon there actually will be Liberty and Justice for ALL (and massive financial reform).
for the government to dig the country into a 14 trillion dollar hole, with no way to get out. When the fact that interest has to be payed on this debt is added in, it seems that the only option to keeping the country a float and the citizens safe and sound is to dig deeper, as the governments need for money is rather obvious considering all of the programs and departments that exist right now. Things aren’t always as they seem though, as the recent documentary I.O.U.S.A. demonstrates very clearly. Through Social Security, tax, and defense reform, the government could easily stop running a deficit budget and start paying back the national debt, one dollar at a time if thats what it takes. Social Security is a massive contributor to the national debt. Social security is a system where people pay part of there earnings into a pool, and they will receive pay from this pool when they retire after age 65. When this was started, it worked rather well as the life expectancy was about 70 so most people only received five years of it. Now the life expectancy is much higher, around 80, so people get social security for close to or all the way to the 15 year maximum. With this changed life expectancy, why should retirement age not change. Its a nice idea to let people rest once they have worked for there whole life but it does not work as it is. If people are capable of working, there is no reason for them not to work, in fact, it is probably better for there health, which in turn helps deal with the health care aspect of the national debt. The current system of taxing individuals is in need of a huge reform in order to help fight the national debt. RIght now, the rich people in America are getting tax breaks while the poor people are suffering more than ever as a result of the “Bush era tax cuts”.
Currently people only pay certain taxes, such as social security tax, on the money they make up to about one hundred thousand dollars. If that was changed so people payed these taxes on all the money they make, that would do some serious damage to the national debt. It doesn’t make sense that if you make more money, you should get to keep more of it, where as if you make less money, you have to pay taxes on all of it. Another major problem in America is defense spending. Safety of course is a high priority, and should be ensured at any cost. The fact of the matter, however, is that America is not in a financial position to be fighting the war on terrorism to the current extant, spread out all over the middle east and beyond. American Military personal and civilians of the countries America is in are dying senselessly every day, and the world is less safe today than it ever has been before. The war on terrorism needs to be scaled down a large amount if America is to have any hope for balancing the national budget and starting to pay back the national debt. America needs to start work now at recovering some of the ground lost. If your in a whole and you keep digging, it just gets deeper and eventually there is no hope to climb out and the only option is to starve till you death. This is seriously the predicament America is in right now, and it is extremely urgent. Major reforms need to be made to Social Security, Taxes, and Defense as well as many other departments and responsibilities of the government. As an individual, it is rather sad how little I can do. I can however inform everyone I know and start a grass roots campaign that includes calling senators, writing letters, and all the other stuff people do in large mobs to get stuff done. I can also make sure I vote in all elections so that my (rather small) voice is
heard. What I am already doing is praying everyday that this one nation under God truly is indivisible, and some day soon there actually will be Liberty and Justice for ALL (and massive financial reform).
