OWE NO MAN NOTHING!
The advice of scripture and good advice it is. But in the economy in which we live, even the global economy the world at large, it is virtually impossible to live life without debt of some kind. We have credit card debt, at least for 30 days. We have real estate taxes which accumulate and are paid generally once annually. And the same with insurance, mortgages, car loans and more. Debt it seems is a fact of life.
What the scriptures mean by owing nothing is undoubtedly having no debt which you can’t pay. Spending without offsetting income, spending without careful budgeting, lavish living beyond one’s means is what is clearly wrong. One who lives that way will sooner or later pay the piper.
As with individuals, so with nations. We the people of the great nation The United States of America are in debt, deeply in debt. We have lived and we have spent well beyond our means and that so for years. America has trillions upon trillions of dollars of debt. And in fact, the United States budget gap has widened to more than one trillion dollars in the first eleven months of this fiscal year. That would be from the time period October 1, 2018 through August 31, 2019. Operating on a fiscal year basis, the deficit is projected to be one trillion dollars by September 30, 2019, the end of our nation’s fiscal year.
In addition, what is so sad about the 545 people who rule us is that the social security funds which have accumulated for years and years have been entirely spent by them. It is estimated that there may be as much as $100 trillion gone – spent and the social security funds have been replaced with congressional promissory notes and I.O.U.’s. You can be quite sure that massive, unbelievable debt will never be paid.
It is interesting to note that the US economy has been growing for ten straight years, the longest economic expansion on record. As a result, much of the budgeting was put in place with the expectation that tax receipts would grow even more than spending because of the expanding economy. But not so. The new 2017 tax law constrained federal revenue collection last year and more importantly, a 2018 budget deal between Democrats and Republicans virtually busted spending caps which were enacted in 2011. Deficits began to decline beginning with the year 2012 because of concerns about rising debt (red ink) and Republicans and Democrats agreed, rare as that may be, to cut spending and to put caps in place to require such cuts.
Higher spending on the military was a major factor. It is absolutely necessary that America keep pace with the ever growing militaristic threats of Russia, and especially China. It is incredible how China has become state-of-the-art in all things military to the point where this once backward nation may now be the military leader of the world. It is certainly, in the eyes of so many experts, the most dangerous. Russia itself is back, on the rise, with unbelievable military capability and growing every day. Both nations are American enemies and determined, in their own way, to rule as much of the world as possible.
And then there are rogue nations like Iran, determined to have nuclear capability. And there is India also with nuclear capability. And the world knows of the rogue nation North Korea which itself has nuclear capability and ever growing. This world of ours is an incredibly dangerous place and America, WE THE PEOPLE have no choice but to continue to invest in our defense and the military of our country no matter the cost. NO CHOICE!
As American debt increased, so did corresponding interest costs on that government debt. In order to attract individuals and foreign nations to invest in that debt, treasury bonds have been issued at an ever growing and higher interest rate which only adds to the expense of our government. Coupled with weak revenues early in this fiscal year, the deficit increased some 19% from October 2018 through August 2019 compared to the prior year. The spending by our government climbed 7% to $4.1 trillion, outpacing higher federal tax receipts which grew 3% to $3.1 trillion. And the spending goes on seemingly without the care or concern of our Congress, democrat and republican.
Again, there was that time at or about 2012 when all in government were deeply concerned about “rising red ink.” But in this Congress, there is no such concern and that has led experts to believe that there will be trillion-dollar annual deficits for decades to come. DECADES! That means by the year 2030, the United States of America will have debt at or about $35 TRILLION. THIRTY-FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS! That would mean that our government would be spending the tax revenues it takes in on the repayment of national debt and interest, the vast majority of those receipts. Some experts estimate as much as 60% of such receipts! Spending for Medicare and Medicaid, social security, education, the environment, the military, infrastructure, and so much more would be left with 40% of such income, an amount not even close to funding the true financial needs of these societal objectives. We the adults of this country are creating this massive debt and leaving it to our children and grandchildren to pay. They will be burdened with debt, an economy and a social structure which will tarnish their lives now and forevermore. They will never know the America we have known and WE THE SPENDERS will be to blame.
Again, the US economy has been growing for 10 years, the longest economic expansion in the history of our country. Such a strong economy typically leads to narrower deficits as a result of rising household income and corporate profits which produce more tax revenue. In such a burgeoning economy, spending on safety net programs such as unemployment insurance tends to decline. But not so in this case.
There are three major areas where federal spending continues to rise, dangerously so. That is, the military, interest costs on government debt and Medicare – Medicaid expenses. These three consume the vast majority of American tax revenues. From October 2018 through August 2019, spending on the military rose 9%! Spending on government debt and interest payments rose 9%! And Medicare – Medicaid expenses increased 10%! That is simply spending totally out of control and in due course, if not now, will make our country the largest debtor country in the world and subject to unbelievable and increased foreign influence and even control.
Obviously, these growing deficits have led the treasury to ramp up borrowing. The government said it expected to borrow more than one trillion dollars for the second year in a row in 2019. ONE TRILLION DOLLARS IN ONE YEAR! Borrowed and added to the debt so that, government debt owned by the public at large and other nations has risen from $14.4 trillion at the start of the Trump Administration to nearly 17 TRILLION some three years later. And again, the paradox is that all of this burgeoning debt is occurring at the same time as the American economy has never been better. Experts are puzzled by that phenomenon and there is seemingly no answer in site. That led treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin to state that the government was considering financing options that could reduce borrowing costs, including introducing a 50–year bond and lengthening the maturity of treasury borrowing. In other words:
KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD!
The only answer is to:
STOP SPENDING.
Curtail it. Reduce it. Constrain governmental appetites. Eliminate pork. Sounds right, sounds good but oh so difficult to accomplish when spending philosophies Democrat and Republican are so different. And now come the socialists, Sanders, Harris, Warren, O’Rourke and even Biden, all of whom promising to spend even more, add to the budget and increase American debt dramatically. If such an election and promised platform happen, that could produce an American economy beyond repair. I pray neither does and for the sake of your children and grandchildren and the future of America, you should hope for the same and do everything possible, like me, to prevent it from happening.
OWE NO MAN NOTHING! Owe no other nation nothing. The men and women who make decisions for us, WE THE PEOPLE do not believe that and in fact make those decisions exactly opposite. Thomas Jefferson among so many other great thinkers and Presidents warned us time and again that we need not fear any other country from a military standpoint. But the great destroyer of our country would be profligate spending and ever mounting debt. We are there even now. This spending simply cannot continue, my fellow Americans, IT CAN NOT!
But that means tough decisions to be made. Cut backs must occur. That has to begin in the world of entitlements, and especially Medicare and Medicaid, and social security. Hard, difficult and hurtful cuts must be made and now. And the same with the military. Military budgets should be more prudent and realistic. And all other government spending should be curtailed, constrained and wherever possible, frozen, no more for now. Ironically, no American citizen would be allowed to live and spend like our federal government. Any such individual would be bankrupt, hounded by creditors. But our federal government simply prints more money and spends without constraint. It is a tragic set of circumstances and this run–away debt must be curtailed. IT MUST!
But it takes you and me, proactive, demanding, deeply concerned and electing right thinking people especially in the House and Senate who know all too well the DANGERS OF DEBT. The future of our great country, and our children and grandchildren depend upon these critical decisions we must make. Remember that when you vote in November 2020!