National Debt ...
The
National Debt is the highest it's ever been.
By a lot. It is so high that it poses a bigger
danger to
our way
of life than any other single threat.
The national debt now stands at something greater than 8.3 trillion
dollars. Not million, not billion ... trillion. To
put that
in perspective, that's over $28,000 for every American. For
every
working American it's over $60,000. That's money that the
federal
government has put on your credit and you
have to pay.
This has become a major
national
security risk. This comes
about two
ways. First, much of this debt is held by foreign
nations.
They come into it through our balance of trade deficit.
Surplus
dollars go to buy treasury certificates. Some of the biggest
certificate holders are the same nations that have the biggest balance
of
trade surplus with the US. These nations can use the debt
they
hold as an economic weapon. They could at any time start
selling
this debt, causing drastic decline in the US dollar and reducing
America's debt to near junk status. Not that they would, but
they
can and do hold this threat over the US for other concessions in
foreign
policy.
Second, they can stop accepting US dollars as payment for oil,
electronics, foods, and many of the other things we take for
granted. This is already
happening. The US dollar and associated
treasury debt are
becoming perceived as too shaky. The euro and yuan are
becoming
viewed as better investments than US dollars. If you don't
want
to see $10 gas and the prices of most of things you buy triple, we need
to get the national debt under control.
Congress has been unable
to do the
job. To be blunt, a congressman's reward is in
being re-elected. Re-election happens because congressmen
deliver
the goods to their constituents, even at the expense of irresponsibly
increasing
national debt. Constituents understand the immediate
gratification
of a new road or a new government subsidy; they may not understand that
their congressman has
merely
put it on their credit card with long-term, grave consequences.
I WILL not vote for any
budget that is
not balanced. We need to stop deficit spending
and start
paying off this debt before it bankrupts us.
I support a
Constitutional amendment
to require a balanced budget. Congress and the
President
have proven that they can't balance the budget. They don't
have
the proper
incentives to do it. It requires nothing less than a
Constitutional amendment.