National_Debt_Crisis

National Debt Crisis in America The national debt crisis that the United States is facing is on an uncontrollable path headed towards financial ruin. This is the argument that is being made by a documentary film produced by PBS titled “Ten Trillion and Counting”. In this essay I am analyzing the facts and giving my educated opinion on the strengths of this argument. I am also giving my opinion on how the national debt impacts the individual citizen, the claims that this film advances, is the conclusion effective, and lastly my view on the national debt. This argument is a very strong argument because there are facts to prove that if nothing is done to decrease spending we are headed towards financial ruin. Former president Bush decreased the taxes, therefore increasing the national debt. The tax payer’s money is what pay’s for income tax and health care. Obama is doing the same thing now that he is the president. Now, we have to borrow more money from China in order to fill that void that was left from the decrease of taxes. Medicare part B was the largest bill signed by President Bush costing 60 billion dollars. He continued to sign tax cuts even during the expensive Iraq and Afghanistan war. Members from his own party were not supporting him in his endeavor to cut taxes after they saw the negative effects it had on the economy. He was a large spender and he was only interested in pleasing the majority of the voters. He was not an economic realist. His father was because after he passed a tax cut at the beginning of his term he shortly after signed a tax increase because he knew that the economy was on a downward spiral. He inherited a surplus and left a deficit. He did deliver on the promise to deliver a tax cut, but in doing so left us in debt. The country’s national debt impacts the individual citizen because of the increase of unemployment. The claims that this documentary advance is that if President Obama continues to cut taxes and spend money the national debt will double in the next decade. The conclusion was effective because it opened my eyes to the severity of the problem and convinced me as an American that taxes are not that bad. They help pay for our health care and social security. A solution to this problem would be to increase taxes. You could also legalize the illegal aliens and tax them. Another solution would be to rationalize health care so that it limits the user according to the severity of their condition. You could also limit spending in the military. I used to be in the military and I witnessed how my unit would spend their monthly budget on stuff we did not need because they had the notion that if we do not spend the money we might not continue to receive the same amount next month. As an American I realize that a lot of us are uneducated about the causes of the national debt. If more Americans were aware of the negative impact that tax cuts have had on our economy they would be inclined to a tax increase. We have to be realists and ask ourselves what’s going to happen to our economy when China and Japan refuse to continue on letting us borrow money. In conclusion, the argument is a strong one with supporting evidence on the claim that if we continue to spend money at the same rate we are now the national debt will double in the next decade. The individual citizen is impacted because of the increase of unemployment. Raising taxes, rationalizing healthcare according to the severity of the condition, limiting spending in the military, and educating the public of the negative impact tax cuts are having on our economy are solutions. We cannot continue to live above our means expecting everything free of charge.