U.S. National Debt

The United States national debt is in excess of $12.1 trillion and continues to grow at a rate of about $3.83 billion each day. That means that if the debt was distributed evenly between every person in the country, each individual would owe more than $39,000. However, not everyone in the United States pays taxes, and if that is taken into account, the amount owed by each taxpayer would be over $111,000. All of these amounts are staggering, but what can be done about it?

Ever since Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, first introduced the idea that a national debt could be a good thing, the United States has been in an ever growing sea of debt. Hamilton felt that having a national debt and allowing the people of the country to loan the government money would give the citizens more of a stake in the success of the country. He had no idea, however, that the small amount of debt he established would grow into the untamable beast it is today.

The problem is that the national government is spending more than they are bringing in. The two obvious ways to fix that problem are increasing taxes or cutting government spending, neither of which is supported by enough of the country for a change to be made.

There are obvious reasons why taxpayers don't want to see an increase in their taxes, they work hard to earn that money and feel that the government shouldn't be taking any more of it than they already do. The national debt is not often thought of as a per person bill, and, for that reason, many individuals are not concerned with it as their problem, but as a national problem.

Cutting government spending on a large enough scale to make much of a difference is also opposed by the majority. This is because there is no one program that a large group feel is unnecessary and it is too difficult to come to a consensus of what programs should be cut and which will remain for any progress to be made.

The main reason there is not much concern over the vast debt of the country is because there has not been a lack of willing lenders to allow the country to borrow from them. Some issues did begin to arise recently with the economic downturn and the falling value of the dollar. Much of the United States' debt is held by other countries and the investment was not looking as good for them as it has in the past. If the people and countries which have been funding the country's debt decide to invest elsewhere, there will be trouble in trying to quickly raise the funds needed to keep the country running. Instead, a gradual shift would be easier for the taxpayers to make, possible paying a slightly higher rate to begin paying off the debt slowly and a review of the budget to find areas to trim back so the country can begin to operate in a way where it is on the track to becoming debt free.
Works Cited

"Alexander Hamilton -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. .

"Deficit warriors storm Congress - Video - Business News." Business, financial, personal finance news - CNNMoney.com. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. .

U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. .

"U.S. National Debt Clock." Ed Hall's Home Page. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. .