Bush has continued on a "borrow and spend" path for several years now. I'm thinking maybe I don't need to worry about our debts and deficits. I'm almost 50 so I'll be gone before we really have to pay for it, but can someone who understands econ. better than me explain what could be the consequences if we just don't worry about our national debt?
2007-07-28 04:56:46 · 11 answers · asked by topink 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
I'd really like to hear some Republican answers. One (R) I read yesterday claimed that the deficit has gone down since Bush came in office, and he didn't seem to include th 500 billion borrowed for Iraq/Afgh. as debt.
2007-07-28 05:18:54 · update #1
yeah, war always puts you in dept and I'm 17 so ill be paying it till they day i die, thanks for reminding me
2007-07-28 05:00:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The last time this country DIDN'T have a deficit and deficit spending was during the Eisenhower administration. Remember that? No you don't, because you weren't born yet. That should tell you something. EVERY congress has been a tax-spend congress and has put us deeper and deeper into debt. The people in their forties (and one almost 50 yr old :0) will be paying big time because there are so many less of them. I expect to see all government services slashed to the bone in the near future. There will be no more welfare as we know it. It's going to be nasty. I'll be dead and gone and I think I'm happy about that. I'm scared for my grand kids!!
2007-07-28 12:12:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Debt has immediate impacts. It's not true that we won't have to pay this until after we're dead. What people mean when they say we're leaving this to our children is that it won't be paid OFF until then. Debt payments are the largest single segment of the federal budget. Every dollar that goes to debt is a dollar we can't use for pressing needs like schools or health care. And of course the interest payments are enormous. As the government's debt goes up, so does the cost of money, making the problem worse and worse as we continue to borrow. As the US government dominates world capital markets, availability to other borrowers is reduced, which means interest rates go up. This causes a worldwide economic slowdown, and possibly a recession. Businesses fail, jobs are lost, people go hungry. Debt affects us all.
2007-07-28 12:10:22 · answer #3 · answered by TG 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your tax money pays for the war as we speak. In 2000 when Bush came in Clinton left him a $300 billion surplus, 7 years later we are over $8,000,000,000,000.00 (8 trillion is a big number) in debt. For every dollar you hand the gov't they give around 17 cents of it to our debtors as a payment on interest due. So that means that 17% of the money you give them is the equivalent of just paying the interest on your credit card. Not changing the debt at all. If we ignore it eventually inflation will become so bad that you will see prices of goods increasing because everyone else's money is worth so much more than ours. This is happening right now! Canada's dollar was worth around 85 cents a few years ago, now you need $1.04 to buy a canadian dollar.
2007-07-28 12:37:24 · answer #4 · answered by gurizaum100 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The government borrows money by selling bonds. If the government doesn't pay off when the bonds have matured, no one will buy the bonds and the government will not be able to borrow money again and will have to pay up front for everything.
2007-07-28 12:05:45 · answer #5 · answered by nosillenhoj 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you have children? They will pay for it.If our debt gets too large it will devalue the American Dollar. This will make our money worth less and less until it is worthless. The Russian economy was like them. Remember what happened to them?
Plus do you know who is carrying most the notes?
China!
So if China wants to bankrupt us all they have to do is call al lour notes.
Scary Huh! It is just like if you run you credit cards up beyond your means. Eventually you will pay it and you will pay much more than you originally owed.
2007-07-28 12:03:58 · answer #6 · answered by B. D Mac 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
YOU might not be around when the bill comes due, but your children will. the US borrows a billion dollars a day....billions from foreign countries in the form of treasury notes....like China......with each dollar the financial house of cards we live in gets a little more shaky.
2007-07-28 12:04:22 · answer #7 · answered by amazed we've survived this l 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What part of the government are you with? Yes the government has to pay for it. If you aren't with the government then you are not paying for anything. If you're talking about taxes then the moment that tax money leaves your hands, it's no longer yours to deal with. It belongs to the government and they can do with it as they feel. If you win a game of poker and you get lots of money, so they have a say in how you spent that money? No.
2007-07-28 12:10:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The consequences if we "just don't worry about our national debt" would be a total world wide economic crash.
2007-07-28 12:07:04 · answer #9 · answered by Amanda B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
hopefully you wont have to pay if bush can get a two for the price of one deal with afghanistan.
2007-07-28 12:00:08 · answer #10 · answered by falgee 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
hey people, we're just pawns on the politician's chess board.
2007-07-28 12:02:14 · answer #11 · answered by Job1000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋