LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

USA is going down wrong path

Posted

To the editor:

First it was the Democrats who doubled our national debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion over eight years under President Obama. Now it is the Republicans who will add $1.5 trillion more over two years.

Will we ever learn from past mistakes and attempt to reduce both borrowing and long-term debt, instead of allowing them to grow yearly? The new $21.5 trillion federal debt is only going to continue growing by $1 trillion per year. This inheritance could bankrupt future generations.

Uncle Sam needs to do a better job with several trillion dollars in annual generated revenues already available, rather than pick the pockets of taxpayers for even more. It is time for a return to passing annual fiscal year budgets on time by Oct. 1, rather than a series of continuing resolutions to keep Washington open.

Return to pay-as-you-go budgeting, means testing for all government assistance programs, real balanced budgets without smoke and mirrors. Stop hiding spending under so-called independent authorities whose budgets are offline with little or no oversight along with actual surpluses and down payments to reduce long-term debt for all levels of government.

Everything needs to be on the table, including the infamous “third rails” of American politics — Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and military spending. How ironic that after winning the Cold War against the evil empire of communism, it may be mismanagement of our economy that defeats us in the end.

Unless we change our ways, America is on the road to losing our status as the world’s No. 1 superpower. Just like mighty ancient Rome before the collapse, we are going down the path to become the world’s super debtor.

Larry Penner

Larry Penner

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