OPINION
(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
The Nation's Debt Crisis Is Already Here; Ballot Reform May Be the Best Solution
The national debt is currently over $35,000,000,000,000.
That’s 35 trillion dollars that my children, and their children, and their children’s children will pay through heavy taxes, decreased public services, and resentment toward the grandparents who saddled them with that debt in the name of welfare expansion and government services.
I believe it's not too late to fix this looming fiscal disaster, but it can only be rectified if the American public is faced with that staggering $35,000,000,000,000 - every single time they look at a ballot.
Politicians win elections by making the right promises.
However, implementing those policies always comes at a cost; either through increased taxes, growing the federal deficit, or eliminating other federal programs and services. No matter what politicians may say during their campaigns, free government money is never free to anyone.
In fact, the American people are the ones who pay.
When creating policies, Congress has to play the tricky role of supporting effective, reasonable, and essential services without placing an undue financial burden on individuals, industries, and future generations.
Despite this, in today's political climate, politicians have entirely forgotten moderation and restraint in not only what they are willing to promise, but what they are willing to spend in order to deliver on those promises.
You may be asking yourself:
- Is $35 trillion in federal debt truly an unendurable financial burden for the wealthiest nation in the entire world?
- What does that actually mean for the average person?
44% of all income taxes paid in the past fiscal year went towards servicing debt interest payments. In case that wasn’t bad enough, in the next ten years, the U.S. will spend over $12 trillion on servicing the federal interest.
What does that mean?
Simply, that a huge number of Americans are paying their taxes and instead of that money going towards roads, schools, or our military.
Make no mistake, it’s going to pay interest on our out-of-control debt.
Furthermore, according to the Peterson Foundation, the interest cost of our debt has more than doubled in the past three years.
It's projected that if we continue spending at our current rate, next year we will "spend more on interest than on defense and nearly all other national priorities."
The more the federal government must spend on interest, the less money it has to spend on essential government programs.
"At $659 billion, interest was the fourth largest government program in 2023, exceeded only by Social Security, Medicare, and defense." (The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget).
Congress is already having to make the tough decision to either raise taxes, cut government programs, or take on new debt just to afford the current interest.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, shared his concerns about the "unsustainable fiscal path" our country is traversing.
In the same interview, he explained how America’s debt is growing faster than our economy. He pointed to government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic as a major kickstart for the kind of irrational spending behavior we still witness in Congress.
If the American middle class of today feels disappointed by what's left of their paycheck after taxes, I can only imagine what it will be like for our children who will be forced to shoulder the cost of today’s wasteful government programs — as well as their own.
Can we turn this around? If so, how?
This debt crisis must be at the forefront of every election, the fiscal crisis our nation is facing cannot be ignored any longer.
Americans can't continue to elect politicians who are willing to ignore the cost of their policies and who are willing to drag on unsustainable COVID-19 expenditures rather than sunset programs that were never created to be long-term solutions.
Congress must pass my bill to require information on the national debt be included on ballots in elections for federal office, to ensure that voters are reminded that their government is in terrible, incomprehensible debt, every time they vote.
Maybe then, politicians will be forced to talk about fiscal restraint rather than engage in indulgent excesses in order to win votes.
I strongly believe that we must bring the federal debt to the forefront of the electoral process by placing it on every ballot in America.
Imagine that, when you make the game time decision of who to vote for and which party to support, you are faced with what your voting decisions can mean for your paycheck.
The bills are past due and if we address that today — instead of 10 years from today — we may save our children from being crushed by the weight of our debt.
Rep. Greg Lopez, R-Colo., currently represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District. He previously served as the Small Business Administration's (SBA's) Colorado director. He has also served as the mayor of Parker, Colorado.
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