Why are liberals so concerned about the national debt?
How has the national debt effected anybody? Does anyone really know what the national debt is, or why we have it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt
2006-04-20T14:42:27Z
I see lots of liberal rhetoric, but no substantive pursuation.
I might at least consider your point if you can offer at least one authority (Source) to support your argument.
2006-04-21T14:51:28Z
Some of these answers are really funny, but none of them really address the question. The answers do demonstrate the general lack of understanding of the national debt. Perhaps the only real answer is that your concern is based on the media fueled hype about a non-existent problem that was designed to increase TV ratings by instilling fear in the general public. Please, do yourselves a huge favor, educate yourselves. You will feel better, I promise. Start here: http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opd.htm
Anonymous2006-04-20T13:46:53Z
Favorite Answer
And your not, just another mentally deficient, me, type repuglican. Do not worry about tomorrow, never mind that the kids and grand kids will have to pay this debt, and more importantly the interest. Do you realize that the interest on a 3 trillion dollar debt is enough to fund health care for each individual in the country, oh that's right you have health care and it don't matter to you. I bet I am closer to "right" then you are.
What is so great about a surplus? Having a national surplus or debt is not like having a personal debt. When a government has a surplus they have to do something with the money. There is no point in letting it sit there. Note the slow economy we've had. One way to spur it is to give tax cuts. So why hoard the money when it can be used to help an ailing economy. Technically speaking, the government could run up an infinite debt, and it would not matter. It just so happens that loaning money to the US is not only a good investment but a sound one as well. The US could take loans forever because people have faith in the investment.
The national debt hurts everyone. In the long term it raises the cost of borrowing so that the government is competing with consumers on the debt market. This means higher interest rates for consumers who have debt, which is the middle class!
In a recession, the national debt can become a real problem as the costs of maintaining it will skyrocket, every dollar spent servicing the national debt can not be used for the contry's other priorities.
In the short term is discourages politicians from spending money on programs designed to help people.
Liberals/Democrats are upset about the national debt because their president ran a surplus and was able to start paying it back, and the repblicans have totally messed that up. We are angry that people voted for republicans and they have out of control spending, rising national debt but they cut back on the things that really help regular people.
We have placed a huge burden on our children and have nothing to show for it, thanks to republicans.
The good news is when taxes eventually have to be raised again, because the national debt is so huge, the RICH will be the ones to pay. No politician in their right mind will be able to raise taxes on the Middle Class, so the rich people who benefited from the irresponsible Republican tax cuts, will now see their kids taxed back into the middle class!
First off, until President Reagan was elected, lowering the debt was a republican issue, as you have pointed out it no longer is.
First off, the debt inevitably will have to be paid. For a long time this was not really a problem because most of the actual debt was financed by bonds held by individuals and corporations here in the USA, but that is no longer the case because a majority is held by foreign governments now (#1 England, #2 Japan, etc).
The Constitution makes allowance for the government to borrow on the credit of the United States, but there is no allowance for the government to default so again it will have to be paid back.
The national debt, as you alluded, is not the annual deficit but something much more, it is the total we owe. Since the 1980's, with the collusion of both parties, the government has been hiding the total amount of red ink by skimming off of the Social Security collections and replacing the money with intra-governmental bonds, sort of like the IOU's that Homer puts into Bart Simpson's piggy bank when he wants to get a beer at Moe's. This is extremely dangerous because in not too many years when the Baby Boomers really start retiring and the number of people collecting outnumbers the number of people contributing, the Social Security crisis is going to turn into a catastrophe. The government really will have to start raising taxes because there simply will be no money and no one else left to borrow from.
I am a conservative and I am concerned about the national debt. It is obvious that a government should spend less than they take in. I don't believe the national debt is the most important thing in the world but it is important. Non-defense spending needs to be cut dramatically. Part of cutting taxes is that you should cut spending at the same time.