Budget bill hikes our national debt
To the Editor:
I will fully admit that I voted for Donald Trump, and I do not regret it for one second, particularly given the alternative, which was more of the same absurd leftist public policies.
Having said that, I will say, that I am somewhat disappointed with the President’s “Big Beautiful Bill” working its way to the President’s desk. You see, I am conservative not only when it comes to politics, but also when it comes to fiscal policy. Presently the national debt stands over $36 trillion. I remember in 1980 President Reagan warning Congress to restrain spending to prevent the national debt from exceeding $1 trillion. Think about that, from less than one trillion to $36 trillion in debt within 45 years. This is unsustainable!
But President Trump had an opportunity to do something about it. Let’s be honest. Every politician has contributed to increasing the debt. Everybody likes giving away freebies to their constituents. Let’s give a billion for this and a billion for that. We can’t cut this and we can’t cut that. Who doesn’t like Santa Claus? So, in order to get re-elected, politicians like to spend your money and give you things. The problem is that currently our national debt now is 123% of our gross national product. We are spending way more than we bring in, and our collective debt greatly exceeds the total of goods and services that Americans produce in one year.
The average American earns $65,000 per year but imagine that same American had a credit card bill of $270,000. Because $270,000 is the amount each taxpayer would have to pay in order to pay off the debt. If that seems unimaginable to you, welcome to my world. That’s where we are! And President Trump had an opportunity to do something that many presidents do not get. He is not going to be up for re-election, and he has been working through DOGE to eliminate fraud and waste. And yet the total debt is not likely to be reduced. Because although we are making some difficult reductions to certain programs, we are allocating increased funding to others. Thus, we will still be spending more than we bring in and falling deeper in debt.
When you are in hole, the first thing you need to do is stop digging. We got “no tax on tips,” “no tax on overtime,” restoring the SALT deduction and possibly increasing it, making the “tax cuts permanent” plus some other freebies thrown in for new parents and seniors. Why couldn’t we use this opportunity to do something no other president has been able to do the last six decades — lower our national debt. Because contrary to popular belief, that debt does have to be repaid, and that interest will soon be the biggest budget item.
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I have often heard that my parents and grandparents were the “greatest generation.” And that is right; after all, they weathered the Great Depression and saved us from speaking German or Japanese. But could it be that this generation, our generation, is the “worst generation” because we refused to deal with the debt, only to leave it to our children and grandchildren.
David Lawson, MD
Lake Junaluska
