The time has once again come for Midterm Elections, and along with them comes the substantial news coverage, campaigning, and excitement. Yet, in their midst, there are many looming issues in the United States that are being overlooked or ignored to make time for campaign coverage. The United States’ total public deficit now approaches 14 trillion dollars, 96 percent of our annual GDP. To those unfamiliar with our country’s debt in the past, it is no trivial amount of chump change. This is over 10 times larger than it was 30 years ago, and the debt to GDP ratio has almost tripled. If that alone doesn’t scare you, get this: our debt increases to grow at a rate of 8.6 billion dollars every day. If nothing is done to control this spiraling rise, we could find ourselves as a nation in very serious trouble. We are literally digging ourselves a hole that we aren’t going to be able to climb back out of if something isn’t done soon. It is predicted that, if we continue down the path we have been taking, in 2012 our debt will eclipse our country’s total GDP, and that by 2050 our debt will be triple the GDP. In this debt-ridden future, Medicare and Medicaid will take up approximately 50% of the total budget, or 1.5 times our nation’s economic output. After I saw the graphs and budget plans the CBO released, I could already feel my hair beginning to fall out. With a national deficit that large, a huge amount of stress is going to be put on the people of the United States (like me). This is an issue that needs to be given a lot more attention than it has been receiving, especially by young adults like me. After all, we’re the ones who are going to have to deal with it, not a bunch of bureaucrats in D.C. They’ll probably be dead or busy using the Medicare that is going to be swallowing our budget. One can only hope that something will change between now and then; becoming a slave to debt is sounding less and less appealing.
After reading Mr. Mowry’s informative editorial on the staggering amount of national debt, 14 TRILLION dollars, a hefty 96% of our GDP, I too felt a slight chill creep up my spine as I envisioned the amount of trouble and hardships that this huge debt could bring for my generation. I’ll admit that before reading his post, I had not looked into national debt or the rate that it constantly increases at, so reading through Aaron’s post left me with some knowledge that I didn’t have. The most interesting bits, including the parts about our debt multiplying by a factor of 10 in only 30 years and our national debt finally edging out the GDP by NEXT year, really got me to sit up and pay attention to what I was reading. Although it was certainly informative and well written, I felt that it lacked something ; after reading the “most interesting bits”, I was looking for Aaron’s personal take on the debt, I wanted to know what he thought could or should be done to remedy our ailing debts. I may be the only person who thinks this, but I think that if Mr. Mowry had included more of his own thoughts on the matter, it could have been a much better editorial.
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