Mending America's Debt Wounds

                 Ask any American what he or she believes to be their biggest concern with the path our country is currently on. The answers a person may receive will probably range from the countries current affairs in the Middle East, to the looming concerns with oil prices, to controversies over gay and lesbian marriage. One response that will not be commonly heard is that of our countries current issues with the national debt. As it currently stands right now The United States of America is sitting at an amazing ten trillion dollars in debt which is almost hard to comprehend how much money that really is. So the question is then raised of how the U.S. can alter its current trends to fix this gigantic problem in our economy.

                Awareness is always the first key step in being able to bring change to anything. If people are unaware that there is a problem then how can Americans strive to fix it? Once Americans become aware that the country the live in has that much money that needs to be paid back to various other countries and organizations, the next step that comes in the process is reform. There are several events that have led to this upward out of control spiral of debt that this country is collecting. One of these events is out affairs over seas in the Middle East. Wars cost money to wage despite the reasons they are fought and this one proves to be no exception in that case. Another example is just recently when the government passed an act known as the Bailout Plan. This plan was enacted or order for the United States Government to bailout large businesses that faced inevitable bankruptcy. Since the money the government was using to bailout these businesses didn’t really exist, because the government didn’t have it, it once again borrowed it. One of the biggest issues with the national debt which causes a majority of its increase is something no one can stop, and that is the interest. For anyone who owns a credit card it is the exact same principle. Americans have a hard time paying off debt on things such as credit cards due to interest building and that is a relatively low amount. Imagine trying to pay off the interest on ten trillion dollars, even at one percent interest the amount that must be paid annually is astounding.

Even though people are aware of the problem the question of how to fix the problem still stands. As the former treasurer of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta, there are several techniques that can be done to reverse the upward trend. One technique which was done in the fraternity chapter in times of need is to reevaluate the current budgets each officer had to work with. If the job the officer had to do could be done with less amount of money then the area should the possibility of having funding reduced. It was also always encouraged that the officers never go over the budget created for them and if at all possible keep under budget. An obvious way to fix the problem is to reduce the amount of spending dramatically, which means that there would have to be major cut backs. This process, although it my be effect, can also carry some baggage of negativity such as job losses and reduced spending on things such as imports. All the money that would be saved from the various cut backs would in return go to paying off the national debt. One thing that is seems the government has always talked about doing, which in return always upsets it citizens, is raising taxes. There is not one person who enjoys paying taxes and the last thing he or she would want is to have them increased. This method though would give the government the money to start gradually reducing the amount owed and taxes would not have to be raised all that much. Due to the large amount of citizens in the U.S. the government can raise taxes slightly but still receive a major amount of money in return.

With all different techniques of advising and fixing the problem of the countries national debt there will always be advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately the cons always seem to outweigh the pros on the subject. People aren’t willing to do what is necessary in order to fix the issues at hand because we as citizens have become comfortable with the amount we owe and constantly push it to the back burner. Only if the citizens of this country ban together, face this problem head on, and bit the bullet can Americans hope to conquer this hole we have dug ourselves into.