When politicians speak about the national deficit and the national debt, they often interchange these words yet their meanings are quite different. For example, suppose you are the head of a household that earns $4000 per month in wages, and your monthly expenses total $5000 per month. This would mean you would have a $1000 deficit each month. At the end of one year you would have accumulated a debt of $12,000.

Now, imagine that you took an additional part time job and increased your income to $4500 per month and your expenses remained at $5000 per month. You would have cut your deficit in half. At the end of the second year you would have increased your total debt from $12,000 to $18,000 ($12,000 from the first year and $500 each month in the second year).

If this scenario would occur in Washington, DC the politicians would point out that the deficit had been cut in half. They would proudly proclaim this on all the news commentary shows as though it were an achievement equal to walking on the moon. As usual, they would fail to mention that the total debt still increased.

The reality of this scenario is that deficit spending goes on every day within our federal government. According to estimates, the national deficit is expected to be $9.3 trillion over the next 10 years.¹ This would nearly double the national debt which is currently $11.4 trillion.² If we allow this to happen our total national debt in 2019 would be approximately $20.7 trillion. Presently, the estimated population of the United State is 300 million people. At this population level, it would mean that each person in the United States would be responsible for contributing $69,000 to pay our national debt.

The federal government is currently financing this debt in part by borrowing money from countries like China, Japan, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Russia. ³ These and other foreign countries own nearly 30% of our total national debt through U.S. Treasury securities. What is more, the percentage of debt owned by foreign countries is increasing. I find this very disturbing.

Thinking back on our scenario, how long do you think you could run your own household and operate your family finances with a continuous deficit at the end of each month? I think it is safe to say; not very long. Your creditors would force you into bankruptcy. Why then, do we allow our politicians to approve budgets and spending at levels we cannot possibly afford as a nation? I believe, that our federal government must only implement budgets that do not operate with deficits. I am concerned that if we do not come together as citizens and take action soon our nation could face a fate similar to our scenario. We could conceivably default on our loans, and ultimately be forced in to the equivalent of bankruptcy. The good news is that we still have time to reverse the current trend, and steer a different course for ourselves and our decedents. However, it is going to be one heck of a fight to take the control of our government back from career politicians and the special interest groups that fund their campaigns. Ultimately, however, this is one fight we cannot afford to lose.

This is why as your representative in Congress I would support:

• A constitutional amendment, that requires the federal government to operate on a balanced budget.
• Legislation requiring the use of a portion of our annual federal revenue to pay off our national debt.
• Legislation to create a rainy day savings fund which we could draw from in a time of crisis to prevent accumulating debt.

1. U.S. National Debt Clock, http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
2. Montgomery, L., Deficit Projected to Swell Beyond Earlier Estimates CBO Expects Trillions More in Borrowing. The Washington Post, Saturday, March 21, 2009; A01
3. Department of the United States Treasury, http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt. Retrieved June 25, 2009.