By STEVE BRAWNER
What’s the number that will cause lawmakers and presidential candidates to pay attention to the national debt? Apparently, not $35 trillion.
The debt reached that number – equal to more than $104,000 for every American man, woman and child – July 26, only seven months after it had reached $34 trillion December 29. It had reached $33 trillion three months earlier last September.
Unfortunately, July 26 came and went without much notice, which is usually the case.
We’re reaching these milestones so quickly these days that they’ve become easy to ignore. The president and the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates do not talk about the debt and do not have plans to address it. To the contrary, they all have made it much worse and actively plan to continue doing so. The same is true for most members of Congress.
On Sept. 30, 2000, the debt stood at $5.67 trillion. It had taken more than two centuries to reach that amount.
Since then, the debt has increased more than $29 trillion in less than 24 years – the result of spending increases, tax cuts, wars, recessions and the pandemic. This has happened under two Democratic and two Republican presidents and with both Democrats and Republicans controlling Congress. Most of the spending – Social Security, Medicare, interest – is on autopilot and not even debated in Congress.
As the old song said, each day the country is “another day older and deeper in debt.” The number fluctuates like any bank account, but the trajectory is ever upward, and at an accelerating pace. A week after reaching $35 trillion, it had already added another $51 billion. That’s roughly $150 for every American.
This fiscal year, taxpayers will pay $1 trillion in interest payments alone. That’s equivalent to almost $3,000 for every American. If there were no debt, that money could have gone to other needs, like repairing the country’s aging water infrastructure, addressing veterans’ health care needs, or improving border security. Part of it could be used to build I-49 down Arkansas’ western edge or I-69 across the southern part of the state. Or, taxes could have been cut and the $1 trillion would have never been collected from Americans at all.
Eventually, something will happen that will be too big to ignore. It’s impossible to know what that will be or when it will occur, but irresponsible, selfish behavior ultimately always brings negative consequences.
Why does the debt exist? One of the main reasons is the country’s dysfunctional political climate doesn’t encourage officeholders and candidates to look past the next election, when their name will be on the ballot. Big donors and special interest groups seek spending increases and tax cuts that benefit their constituencies. Whether or not the budget balances is not a priority.
One way to change the environment – and I admit it’s a long shot – is for voters to prioritize the debt themselves. Politicians will listen to their big donors, but voters ultimately determine who gets elected.
Voters, therefore, should speak for those who will have to pay for this debt but can’t speak for themselves – children and the not yet born. All four of Arkansas’ members of Congress face contested elections this November. Voters should ask candidates where they stand on the debt and then base part of their voting decisions on what they say and, more importantly, do. Call yourself a conservative, liberal, moderate or whatever, but we all should be “future generationists.”
We can thank our ancestors for the prosperity we enjoy. They made sacrifices for themselves and also their families. They hoped their children would live better lives than they did, and they took steps to make that happen. Let’s follow their example, starting with paying for the government we have.
We have not been doing that, especially these past 24 years, which is why the debt is $35 trillion.
We’d better change our ways. The debt only gets deeper each day we grow older. At this rate, $36 trillion is only months away.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.