WASHINGTON — Well, we just kicked the can down the road again — to quote former President Barack Obama, who developed into an expert can-kicker during his eight years in the White House. The bipartisan budget agreement reached last week by Congressional leaders is nothing if not a huge evasion of responsibility. Neither party will […]
national debt
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Founders warned about the dangers of debt
In “Hamlet,” Shakespeare pens one of the most familiar lines — and best advice — ever written. Before Laertes leaves for Paris, his father, Polonius, tells him: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be…” We have ignored that advice for far too long, which is why the U.S. national debt is $20 trillion with more […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Federal lending takes on its own life
WASHINGTON — Among the many things it does, the federal government is one of the nation’s largest lenders. It lends to farmers, homeowners, students, small businesses, exporters and rural electric utilities, among others. Altogether, there are more than 100 loan programs administered by 20 agencies overseeing lending worth $3.4 trillion in fiscal 2015, up from […]
Posted inLetters
Proposed budget a disgrace
I am concerned about this country’s national debt, and my blood is boiling after reviewing the budget outline released recently by the Senate Budget Committee. I used to vote Republican because I believed Republicans were the fiscally responsible party. I was wrong. Since Ronald Reagan, deficits have increased under every Republican administration and decreased under every […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Economist rationalizes deficit spending
WASHINGTON — Say it ain’t so, Doug. From 2009 to early 2015, Douglas Elmendorf was the widely respected director of the Congressional Budget Office, where he repeatedly warned lawmakers that chronic deficits are unsustainable, pose long-term dangers — and that shrinking them sooner rather than later would make the task easier. Now, economist Elmendorf, who […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Austin Bay: Big debt a threat to national security
According to usdebtclock.org’s online national debt counter, as I begin to write this column the burden of the past is $16,959,384,107,300. Or it was, for a split second. Count to 10 and the debt immoderately climbs another $100,000. Though the numbers are approximate, past promises made by Washington, and current spending directed by Washington will […]