As of October 4, 2007, the national debt, as of October 4, 2007, is now $9,050,048,079,280.70. On George W. Bush’s watch, the national debt has exploded, soaring out of sight from the $5.7 trillion debt Bill Clinton left to him. The yearly interest alone on such a debt is over $400 billion dollars. In 2008, only income redistribution programs including welfare and social security (est. $1.8 trillion and defense (est. $606 billion) will be larger portions of the budget.
The national debt is the “grandchild tax.” We spend the money; our grandchildren will pay the bills for our legacy of overspending and irresponsibility. With budget deficits ranging from a high in 2004 of $521 billion to this year’s projected near-$300 billion deficit, the national debt and our grandchildren’s tax burden continue to grow.
To end the grandchild tax, we must balance the budget, end corporate welfare, and massively cut federal spending in all areas. Paying the yearly interest and continuing to run deficits is the road to ruin. President Bush’s goal of merely cutting the deficit in half is a joke, not a serious proposal.
We need to end the deficit completely and return to operating with a surplus so we can pay down the debt. To do that, Americans must throw out of office the wastrel spendthrifts of the Republican Party and their Democratic Party allies.
For more information on the national debt, interest on the national debt and the budget deficit, please see:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/pdf/07msr.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/budget08/category.html
