TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

$9 Trillion Debt

ADVERTISEMENT

Gabriel Read

Published: February 2, 2008

A comment heard on the radio aroused a compelling response. The caller said that both parties contributed to the serious crisis facing the country today, and contributed to the enormous $9 trillion national debt, and severe Social Security, Medicare-Medicaid crises.

It is ironic that the caller cited the last 40-50 years. Consider this. It took 200 years (1787 to 1980) for the national debt to reach $1 trillion. It took 27 years for it to balloon to $9 trillion (1980 to 2007). Ergo: $6 trillion (1980-1992); +$2 trillion (1992-2001); -$5 trillion (2001 to 2007). Total: $9 trillion. So, who was in charge during those years?

Who caused the $7 trillion hit on the economy in 2000? Who provided the prescription drug bill that was to cost $400 billion, but ballooned to $1 trillion and caused health care cost to increase 10 to 15 percent each year? Who allowed the corporations to duck their obligations for pensions all across this country? Who sat by while the banks and mortgage corporations manipulated the hapless home buyers to sign those sub-prime mortgages? As an immediate first step to resolve the crisis, who bought $2 millions of those egregious loans, then reduced interest rates for the banks and mortgagors, but left those hapless mortgagees swinging in the wind? Who is being held accountable? Where are those trillions and trillions of dollars? The answers? Corporations and our government!

Who wants to reduce Social Security benefits now that Congress has "borrowed" $2 trillion from that trust fund and claim that it is in crisis? Those trillions were supposed to help balance the yearly budgets; yet, there are huge deficits. Who wants to take $2 trillion more from that Fund to finance private pension funds? Answer? Pres. Bush.

I remember having a discussion with two young ladies at Miami-Dade Community College in 1972 about the economy. They were worried that the economy would collapse; the country was heading into a recession. I assured them that the economy would recover, that our national system of checks and balances would protect the economy from any severe collapse. I said the laws of the land would prevent the government and the corporate rich to jeopardize our system.

Well, my faith must have been stronger than the obligation by our government to uphold those laws. I am appalled by the collapse of our system of national and world economy, and I fear for those millions of my fellow Americans who did the right thing, who worked hard to achieve the American Dream, only to dread what the near future holds. and they do have huge debts in their retirement! So who is responsible?

Your answer will influence your choice of the next president. Be sure to vote.

Gabriel Read

Avon Park

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT