What is the greatest threat to our children and grandchildren? Some folks might say climate change. I would say our national deficit is the greater threat. We go about our lives without thinking about the ticking timebomb politicians from both parties have left for the next generation. At the writing of this column, the national debt is approximately $37.9 trillion according to United States Treasury Fiscal Data.
The interest on the national debt is the third-largest spending category through August this year. It is only behind our national Ponzi Scheme Social Security and Medicare. For anyone under 50, the three largest expenses of the federal government will provide no benefit and only grief. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that, if current laws stay the same, net interest payments on the national debt will almost double by 2035. Just in time for the Social Security trust fund to run out of money in 2033. The 2030s are going to be wild!
The national debt wasn’t always this bad. In 1980, after the Carter administration, the national debt was roughly 31% of Gross Domestic Product. By the time our good friend former president George W. Bush left office, it had over doubled to around 75%. President Bush learned you can start wars and give industries ridiculous subsidies without raising taxes so long as you don’t care about the future. Things didn’t get better under Barack Obama. By 2016, the national debt was 102% of GDP. Enter President Trump’s first term. When he left office, that national debt was 124% of GDP. Some folks say President Biden lowered the national debt which technically he did. It went from 124% of GDP to 120% of GDP. Celebrating that is like celebrating only losing $5,000 at the casino on Sunday night when you lost $10,000 the night before. Trillion-dollar Joe didn’t help the cause.
The problem is, fixing our country’s spending problem doesn’t get you campaign contributions. Giving massive subsidies to corporations is a lucrative trade both political parties partake in. You can contact your Congress folks or senators, but they don’t care unless you hand them a pile of cash with your complaint. Politicians will keep kicking the can down the road hoping by the time it causes a Mad Max scenario, they will be dead or at least out of office. Until then, we will all go on with our lives ignoring our national pending doom.
Adam Czarkowski works as a product manager in the technology field and lives in Penacook.
