By
Maya MacGuineas
20
hrs ago
Thanks
to the recent budget-busting tax cuts and spending deal, the national debt is
skyrocketing and on an unsustainable course. And where there is debt, there are
interest payments on that debt.
In
fact, interest is by far the fastest growing part of the budget.
In
our latest nonpartisan analysis, we found that interest payments will quadruple,
topping $1 trillion per year in as little as a decade. That's more than we will
spend each year on the military or Medicaid, and as a share of the economy, it
is the highest in history.
As
the country spends more and more to service our debt, it leaves less room to
spend on everything else, from defense to education to infrastructure to new tax
cuts.
Over
the next decade, we'll spend around $7 trillion -- $55,000 per household -- just
servicing our debt. That's hardly the best use of our scarce tax revenue.
Unfortunately,
we can't just cut these interest payments; they represent commitments to our
creditors. But a thoughtful plan to slow the growth of our rising debt can help
keep interest rates down and prevent interest payments from eating up our entire
budget.
Sadly,
policymakers have spent the past year doing exactly the opposite. Between
massive new tax cuts and massive spending hikes, Congress has added over $2
trillion to projected debt. We're addicted to debt!
So,
how do we fix this?
The
first step is admitting we have a problem. We need a national debt audit, and
members of Congress need to recognize and be held accountable for their
votes.
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