How to reduce debt
We question whether many people ask this, yet it is listed on the U.S. Treasury Department's Frequently Asked Questions: "How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?"
Their answer? "Make your check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it is a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau Of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188"
We just can't imagine our national debt going down much via this method.
On the other hand, it is easy to see the method by which the debt grows. Congress decides it needs to raise the debt ceiling; the president signs it into law; the federal government spends the money and U.S. taxpayers are accountable for the amount. It's as simple as that.
Tucked inside a House bill this week designed to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another debt ceiling increase. This time it's $800 billion, which will allow the feds to pursue their shameless course -- as long as it doesn't put the nation in debt by more than $10.6 trillion. The Senate appears poised to pass the same bill and President George W. Bush signalled he's ready to sign it.
Close observers of this editorial space might recall the last time the debt ceiling was raised. That would have been in September 2007 when the ceiling increased $850 billion to the current $9.8 trillion. Our leaders have spent that money on top of all the items for which funding existed.
This happens a lot. In 2006, we raised the debt ceiling $781 billion. In 2004, $800 billion. In 2003, $980 billion. In 2002, $450 billion.
That the national debt will have nearly doubled from the $5.95 trillion existing when Bush first took office is nothing to be proud of. It's something to be frightened of. It eventually will cripple our economy, our future, our very way of life.
We only have ourselves to blame. We keep electing and re-electing people of all partisan stripes with no public conscience. The social contract has been voided in favor of private largesse.
While both major presidential candidates are promising change, it is not enough. We need large-scale transformation. A complete overhaul of the system.
The American people need to take back the country before our elected leaders sell it to the highest bidder.
And then we can direct the Treasury Department to change the answer to the aforementioned frequently asked question.
Q: "How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?"
A: "Vote against every individual who helped create it."
Editorial by Patrick Lowry
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