President Obama has been meeting with his bipartisan deficit reduction commission. But most Americans, they aren’t impressed. A new Rasmussen Report Poll indicates the vast majority of Americans view the commission as cover for Congress to raise taxes. Although 83% of Americans are concerned about the size of the federal budget deficit, just 5% think Congress and the President should consider only tax increases when dealing with it. 43% say only spending cuts should be considered.
Why should we be concerned about the national deficit? The answer is the deficit can’t keep rising forever. Alan Greenspan warned this summer, things may be okay for now, but he’s worried about looming Social Security and Medicare costs from the “Inevitable retirement of baby boomers starting in 2008 and beginning to accelerate in 2011 and 2012.” Remember every bureaucracy the President has set up since coming into office is going to cost big bucks. In other words, you may be able to carry your credit card balance okay today, but if you think you’re going to need to buy a new car tomorrow, you’ve might have a problem.
It’s also important to look at where the money is coming from to pay for the federal budget deficit. If Uncle Sam borrows from you and me that’s not such a bad thing. But what’s happening now is that more and more of those T-bills are being bought up by people outside the U.S. — who are making more and more of the stuff we buy. The American economy is running up its credit card with money borrowed from the rest of the world. Experts say sooner or later it will eventually catch up with us.
This is Carl Ramsey and that’s Another View of the News.
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