American National Debt

[ShadowHM]

So, we are talking about over 13% of all taxes paid wasted on interest.  Of course, since we spend more and borrow more, the implications of this are not clear.
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The most straightforward implication is that the government has less flexibility for program spending i.e. less flexibility to add or alter needed spending.

Since most of the tax revenue is spoken for, in one way or another, on things that the citizens expect from their government, then a growing amount of claimed spending is something to worry about.

We could launch into a lengthy list of places where governments squander money. It is a fact of life that this happens. New brooms are taken out and used on them and then other boondoggles happen. However, most of what the government buys with its money is valuable to its citizens. Restricting flexibility in spending is a worrisome thing.

My federal government actually has a forecasted surplus this year. We have suffered a number of years of cost-cutting and downloading of expenditures to lower levels of government to make this happen. The stated plan was to reduce the debt, and, while this has been happening (to a very limited extent) it is quite amazing how the possible pork barrel has been generating excitement.

Carrying a debt to be able to pay for capital improvements is one thing. Carrying an increasing debt to pay for today's lifestyle is another. People who would never consider carrying such a huge debt load in their own lives are perfectly happy to see their government do it. :huh: And they still consistently vote against anyone who suggests that taxes might have to go up to pay for it all. <_<