National Debt: Let's Add Some Sense to the Debate (essay)

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1

I heard one of the new Congressmen say recently, "We don't have a revenue problem.  We have a spending problem!"  He was very certain about that.  I have heard other national leaders interviewed saying much the same thing, just as emphatically.


What I have not heard is on what basis this firm conviction is grounded.

2

It is true that we have a national debt of a size that is very rare for our country.  As a percentage of the U. S. Gross Domestic Product, our current debt is even higher than the national debts of many other developed countries such as Germany or Sweden.  Our normal, or expected level of national debt - it may be worth remembering - is quite a bit lower than those planned in other developed countries.

The size of our current debt could be a problem under certain circumstances, such as a reasonable chance of domestic inflation or international fear for the stability of the U. S. economy when compared with the economic stability of other developed nations. 

Neither of these circumstances faces us today.  The U. S. economy is still the largest and most trusted in the world, even though the worldwide Great Recession has caused significant economic problems here as in other countries. 

And far from there being reasonable fear of inflation in our country, it is generally agreed that we have only recently escaped the danger of deflation, falling prices rather than falling value in the dollar.  In other words, the probability of the opposite of inflation - as far as we can tell - is greater than the likelihood of inflation.

Still, since either condition could possibly become a reality at some time in the future, it is prudent to keep the amount we add to the current national debt as small as possible.

3

Additions to the national debt occur when current government spending exceeds government revenues.  In a controlled capitalistic economy such as our own, government revenues come from federal taxes, not from corporations owned by the government. 

Adjusted for normal inflation over the years, our government's revenues today are considerably lower than they have been in the past because of the many reductions in federal taxes over the last 30 years.  Tax revenues have fallen especially because of the reduction of taxes on the wealthy, since the wealthy have been counted on to pay the largest share of federal taxes for 100 years or so, as they do in the other developed countries.  Such taxing is also a basic feature of modern capitalism.

And, most obviously, our tax revenues are significantly lower in 2011 because of the Great Recession of 2008-2010, from which we have just begun to recover.  The long-term unemployed pay little income tax, if any.  Businesses earning fewer dollars than in the recent past pay less tax too; those that are bankrupt may pay none. 

Even adjusted for inflation, government spending today is half the percentage of GDP of what it was in 1946.  It is below its level of the mid-1950s, a period cited as highly prosperous for our country.  The level of national debt today is comparable to what it was 20 years ago. 

The level of the national debt clearly is not a matter of urgent concern, especially when compared to the high rate of unemployment and the stagnant or falling income of 75% or 80% of Americans.

4

There may be some spending problems that need to be addressed.  However, the national debt is less a cause for worry than the fragile condition of the economy or the injustice of the current tax system.


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Poem: Roman Vista

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He stands on the roof, on the tall windblown tower
………overlooking the city--
Gazing past the tiled roofs clustered near beneath Him,
Past the brown, green, and black shingles covering the low
………and cool residences imbedded in the cedary hills
………forming a bowl to cradle His tower under Him,
Past the white cotton clouds, through the azure liquid sky,
………beyond the sun and the heavens, into nowhere.

He smiles and the sun glows warmly,
Sending fire into all natural things--
………tree, bush, dog, or man and woman--
Inducing all who wake or ever stirred on earth to peace--
………to peaceful, hot oblivion.

He laughs and the clouds start to move,
Enshrouding themselves
………with black violet,
Encircling the sun, shutting out its light
………but not its soporific heat.

He roars, and thunder stumbles out from behind the hills
………and careens through the clouds,
Smashing the peace with heavy, loud, bootsteps
………that roll back and forth in the hills' cradles.

A tear builds in His eye, larger, until it bleeds
……….down His soft cheek, and the rains
Begin to stroke the fertile soil,
Splashing the gutters with a coolish clearness
………restoring peace once more.

He sobs, and the cool of the rain turns to heat,
Boiling the tile-covered roofs
………and the trees
...........and everything beneath Him
………with fever.

He sobs again and the clear waters
………turn to filth,
Coating everything touched by the searing rain
………with a blistering, sticky mud.

He cries on and on, and the rain turns to fire
           as it pounds the earth,
Kindling the city, the trees,
           the roofs, the streets, the gutters,
          even His own tower
With flames that shoot up
          into the cotton clouds,
Billowing smoke to the liquid sky.

Finding his violin, still crying,
He plays wild songs
         into the fire and ash,
Bowing and laughing at the same time
         until the whole city is destroyed
         and even His tower is steaming
Black rubble
         beneath the quietly smiling sun.

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