Growing Problem

Over the past month I’ve noticed a growing concern about the staggering national debt from the mainstream media. Fortune Magazine did an article by Shawn Tully ‘The Next Great Crisis: America’s Debt,” suggesting the chronic deficits are putting the nation on course to financial collapse. It cites two well-known combatants from the opposite end of the political spectrum, Paul Krugman, the Nobel winning economist and Paul Ryan, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin who both believes the increase in the federal debt is a fundamental threat to the U.S economy.
The National debt has increased to an average of $3.81 billion a day since September 2007, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock. Simply put our government is spending far greater than the taxes Americans are paying to keep our country’s gears oiled. Many are quick to blame the war in Iraq, but in my opinion that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We've had bad government for too long, printing money like it’s going out of style. Many reforms will be needed to turn the tide even if the Iraq war ended today, including cost cutting on social programs, and increases in taxes. The issue of increasing taxes won’t sit too well with many Americans myself included. In the past tax increases haven’t necessarily equated to improvements in our daily lives.

One might question why has mainstream media just decided the growing deficit is so scary? I’m sure a lot of the headlines are politics. But it can’t be denied the level of debt by our government, families and business is reaching toxic limits, and there could be consequences to pay. It seems we are becoming a nation that no longer has the assets to payoff our liabilities. We simply do not have the resources in our homes, bank accounts, or investment accounts. We’ve been in several bubbles based on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy that encouraged consumer borrowing, and unsustainable values in the stock market and housing. Now that these bubbles have burst with a deafening ‘pop’ we appear to be slaves forever to long-term deficits on the government and personal levels. This definitely threatens our standard of living, wealth and prosperity. Read the full article.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/05/retirement/next_crisis_americas_debt.fortune/index.htm