The inexcusable tragedy that faces the American Public
The National Debt of the United States cannot be excused away. That it has risen to the unbelievable sum of 36+ trillion dollars is a national disgrace that can be placed squarely on the US Congress and several administrations.
A trillion is an unimaginable figure; to put it in some perspective, the figure of one trillion is followed by 11 zeros; two zeros for the cents or portions of a dollar, followed by three zeros of the hundreds, three zeros for the thousands, three zeros for the millions, three zeros for the billions and finally three zeros for the trillion. This is then multiplied by 36+ for the grand total of 36+ trillion dollars and growing!!
John Adams, the second president of the US, feared debt. I cannot remember the exact quote, but he said that there are two ways to conquer a nation; one is by the sword, the other by debt. Is this to be the future of our Republic? Driven to ruin by Debt???
I find this to be a tragedy that cannot continue, but we have elected officials that simply wave a hand as if it is a trifling thought. It is no wonder that the American public has so little faith in Congress. It may very well be that the Congress has doomed our Republic to utter failure!!! I for one find this attitude to be TREASONOUS to the point that some need to be tried and convicted for this lawless and reckless failure!!!
Debt by the US government started with the Revolutionary War; it continued to be part and parcel of the government until The Jackson administration. It was paid off during his administration in the years of 1835-1836. That is the only time in our 248 years of existence as a nation that our national debt was paid off!! The national debt as of January 1, 1790 totaled $75, 463, 476.52, a miniscule amount when compared with the awful burden we now face!! To put all this into perspective, the national debt as of January 1, 1836 was $37,000 dollars and has never been zero since.
At the beginning of the Civil War the national debt was about $65 million but ballooned to $2.7 billion by the end of the war. World War 1 increased the debt to approximately $25.5 billion by the end of World War1.
During the Harding administration, government spending declined from $6.3 billion in 1920 to $3.3 billion in 1922. Public debt was $15.05 billion when Franklin D. Roosevelt assumed office of US President in 1933 but increased to $39.65 billion by 1939. The Second World War would drive the debt to $251.43 billion at the end of the war, but had risen to $260 billion by 1950.
Budget reforms (The Congressional budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974) allowed Congress to challenge Presidential budgets thereby allowing Congressional members more say in budgetary issues. The intervening 50 years, in my simple estimation have not only driven the debt to astronomical highs, but was instrumental in the US credit rating to fall from a triple AAA rating to AA+, (a rating that may not truly reflect the value of the US credit rating)driving a higher interest rate the country has had to assume in order to finance the federal government’s debt. True, not all the blame for this mess can be laid at the feet of Congress, administrations most assuredly have had a hand in the fiasco the national debt has become. But the lack of fiscal control has led to this profligate spending spree that has allowed the national debt to go from $260 billion in 1950 to the frightening $36+ trillion that we see today.
It is my considered opinion that this tragedy will never be resolved without an outcry by the citizens of our Republic. Public pressure can and does move Congress to action, but it is never going to do anything unless forced to. We the People must act, our Republic is of far greater value than any politician, of this we can be sure!!!
Walt 2024