By Brenda Acuna |Staff Writer|
In the forefront of America’s problems lies the issue of the ever increasing national debt. At a debt of $16.4 trillion, Congress and President Barack Obama are at an impasse on how to solve this dilemma.
To reach a solution, Congress needs to do two things: raise and reform. By that I mean Congress must first raise the debt limit and then reform the debt limit to gain stability.
The debt limit, or what is being referred to as the debt ceiling, is the amount of money the nation is allowed to borrow. While many Democrats are advocating the need for raising the debt limit, Republicans argue that the country’s legal ability to borrow should be reduced. Both standpoints should be used to create a solution.
If the debt ceiling is not raised, the nation’s debt will continue to grow. In addition, long-term stabilization is needed instead of a quick fix. A quick fix will only lead to future debt issues.
To reform the debt limit, Congress and the president must consider the nation’s federal budget in conjunction with raising taxes on the wealthy.
The key to lowering our nation’s debt is by generating income for the government. To do this, higher taxes must be implemented on the wealthy.
Doing so would help the economy by reducing the deficit and it would be fairer for those in the middle class.
There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
It is fairer to tax those who make $250,000 or more as their incomes have continued to grow through the roof even during the recession.
Income equality is not only better for everyone, but it will also help solve this debt ceiling battleground.
Fairness aside, the rich have been making too much money while the rest of us continue to accrue debt.
Those against higher taxes deem it necessary to cut social programs. This would not do much to reduce the federal deficit since $11.5 trillion is public debt and the remaining $4.9 trillion comes from bonds held by Social Security, Medicare and other trust funds, according to the Washington Post.
All this fuss has Americans pondering how we got into this debt in the first place.
The answer to that is simple: Washington has spent much more money than it takes in, contributing to this great deficit.
They continue to spend and borrow money, increasing the deficit while nothing is done to reduce it.
While House Republicans approved a temporary suspension of the debt ceiling, allowing the federal government to continue borrowing for the next few months, but a solution is needed ASAP.
“I don’t understand why we’re in such a massive debt,” says student Ana Moreno. “It seems like there’s all these tax raises and cuts. It’s ridiculous.”
With all this bickering back and forth among political parties, one thing is clear: the national debt is out of control. Both parties must seek cooperation instead of confrontation.
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