America on the Road to Bankruptcy: Does Anyone Care?

The national debt has just crossed the $35 trillion line with no deceleration in sight. Debt service (interest) is now greater than defense spending. The national debt is not in the sights of either political party as one promotes tax cuts and the other promotes more entitlements and spending.  Does anyone have any idea of how long our friends in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will continue financing our debt? 

A strong defense requires a strong industrial economy behind it. Quite frankly, we do not have a strong economy based on production in the United States. We have a predominantly service economy. Go to any major store and try to buy American made products. Everything is manufactured outside the US. Even high-tech goods proudly say designed in California, manufactured in ______(fill in the blank). Invisible exports are at record levels as immigrants send American money to every country in the world to support their relatives abroad.

America is just recovering from a severe bout of inflation which appears to be finally coming under control. Wall Street is ravenously waiting for free money, that is, for the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee to lower interest rates. Banks are eagerly awaiting the same so they can pay their depositors 0.01% interest for their deposits.  Go shopping in the supermarket and find out how high the cost of living really is. Home prices are hitting record highs as is the cost of automobiles. This is not a reflection of value but rather of depreciation of currency due to inflation. Paper money is becoming worth less and less in purchasing power. The American dream is becoming a nightmare.

The spendthrift lame duck in the White House keeps raving about new entitlements and spending while demanding tax reform so that the rich pay their “fair share”- whatever that is. It must be as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

For a brief moment at the end of the Clinton administration, it appeared that the national debt was going to be extinguished. The financial elite wrung their hands with anxiety over which benchmark should be used to determine various credit parameters. In a presidential debate, candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore debated what a debt-free America would look like. The terrorist attack of Sep.11, 2001 took care of that as America went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan and spent trillions (not including deaths and casualties). In the last eight years, the national debt has risen 75% with no end in sight. This is not sustainable yet neither presidential candidate has a word to say about this.

Congratulations America on reaching this new threshold!  It’s time for Americans to demand of their politicians and candidates a little courage. It’s time to get serious and solve this problem. Our country cannot afford this standard of living and spending as if there is no tomorrow. There is a tomorrow and the clock is ticking. Courage and honesty are needed, or else the economy and our way of life will collapse.

Garry S. Sklar

Guttenberg, NJ

July 30, 2024