Samuel Krakow for United States Representative
The National Debt

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            When asked what the biggest problem in this country is at this moment in history, most people will invoke a variety of topics ranging from the extremes of terrorism to election reform.  However, no single topic should frighten the American public more than the looming national debt.

            Most Americans have little comprehension of the national debt.  It feels more ephemeral than more tangible issues such as war and recession.  The problems associated with the debt do not directly affect our daily lives in ways that we can feel.  Even the size of the debt seems too large to understand in a concrete sense.  We deal daily with the price of milk, bread, or the local newspaper rather than numbers with 12 zeros.

            So what makes up the national debt?  In essence, the debt is the amount of money the federal government currently owes due to all of its overspending.  The deficit, a number heard more often in the media, is the amount of money overspent in one year.  All deficits over the years are added up to make up the national debt.  Currently, the national debt is 6.5 trillion dollars, approximately $22,500 for every United States citizen.

            Think of the national debt as a credit card balance.  We borrow money from credit card companies and get charged an interest payment if we do not pay off the balance at the end of a given month.  When the government does not pay off its credit card balance because it does not have enough money from tax revenue, it gets charged interest from bondholders.  Bondholders expect an interest payment in exchange for giving money to the government.  These bonds are in the form of savings bonds and treasury securities.  The interest payments people expect from these bonds and securities are charged to the government.  Last year, these interest payments totaled about 20% of the national budget.  20% of the budget may not seem like a lot, but the government essentially threw away 350 billion dollars of taxpayer money last year in order to pay this interest.  Of course, these interest payments are a recurring portion of the federal budget each year as long as the debt exists.

             Throwing away money at this level each year is only part of the problem.  By law, the government has financial obligations it must fulfill.  Unfortunately, these obligations are growing due to the aging baby boom population.  An aging population requires increased government spending in the form of social security and medicare payments.  A recent non-partisan investigation conducted by economists at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and funded by the Treasury Department concluded that these obligations would increase the national debt to 44 trillion dollars by 2008.

              To put this amount into perspective, if the entire world population emptied its wallets to buy bonds and securities from the United States government, the amount would only total approximately 38 trillion dollars.  The conclusion is that the government will have to cut these obligations, a very politically unfavorable proposition considering the high percentage of older voters, and raise taxes.  Politicians have proven their unwillingness to do this in the wake of a 350 billion dollar tax cut supported by Representative Curt Weldon and recently signed by President Bush.  In essence, Weldon and Bush are delaying and increasing substantially painful decisions in the name of short-term political gain. 

              I urge the voters of the 7th District of Pennsylvania to call Weldon and urge him to make the decisions that will not hurt the fiscal policies of this nation.  I also urge voters to consider a new representative who will consider the long-term fiscal interests of his constituents while in office and will make an active effort to decrease the national debt.