"I place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." -Thomas Jefferson, 1817The United States National Debt has now passed 8.8 trillion dollars. This is more than $29, 000 for every person in the United States. Since federal law limits the total amount of debt the Treasury can assume, Congress has raised the debt ceiling to $9 trillion dollars. Sadly, the national debt is actually our "nation's debt", although the federal government got us there, we the American people will have to pay it back.
At its current rate of spending, the federal government will soon build up $1 trillion of new debt each year. The issue is simply that congress almost always spends more then the IRS is able to collect in revenues. Over the past three years there has been a huge rise in federal spending, to the extent that the debt has increased an average of $1.6
Government debt as percentage of GDP globally. (20...
English: Federal Debt Held by the Public by U.S. P...
English: The holders of the United States national...billion per day since September 2003. As amazing at it is, the government spending will most likely exceed its limits in the year 2005 therefore making our nation even more vulnerable.
Unfortunately, these increases have become so common that the media hardly reports them and there are no political costs for those who vote as such. When the national debt is carelessly enlarged it suggests to investors that the government is not genuine about controlling its spending. If investors should become leery, they may be hesitant to purchase from our government in the future.
Treasury notes sold by our government are by and large purchased by foreign governments; mostly Asian. Currently banks have begun to favor foreign assets showing they believe our economy is headed for trouble. Even more disturbing is the fact that we are essentially...