The Newsman Today

An editorial by Jay Todd (Independent)

The national debt is over $11 trillion and growing, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury, costing the average American citizen almost $38 thousand.

The auditor of the Government Accountability Office said the U.S. is fiscally “unsustainable.” America is currently not living within its means, and it’s not thanks to one particular party or group of people that it got that way.

While many blame President Obama for indebting the U.S. government, the war in Iraq already has eaten up $680 billion by itself, according to the National Priorities Project.

That’s not to suggest that President Obama didn’t contribute to our increasing debt with his constant spending.  Social services such as Medicare and Medicaid are growing much faster than the economy overall. 

Another problem is the U.S.’s trade deficit.  To make up for this deficit, the U.S. is required to borrow large sums of money from other countries.  We currently have $739.6 billion indebted to China.

Perhaps the most important problem is the subprime mortgage crisis. This is where banks relaxed their lending standards and gave individuals loans to buy houses, even if they couldn’t afford it.  The low standards caused people to borrow more than they could pay back.  In the end, these people had to sell their homes.  The problem is that there are too many people trying to sell their homes and not enough buyers.

So in order to get rid of this debt we have to do some of the following options, none of which either party likes:

1. End our war in Iraq
2. Decrease spending on social services
3. Cut government spending in general
4. Increase taxes to pay for the debt

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