The Shocking Growth of the National Debt
Do you know how many zeros it takes to make a trillion? The national debt is now over $13 trillion. According to Dave Ramsey, one trillion dollars would pay the rent of every renter in America for three years or pay every US mortgage for 14 months! If you stacked a trillion worth of one dollar bills that would wrap around the equator 2.72 times. Wow.
In 2008, just two years ago, the national debt had reached $9 trillion. In two years the national debt increased by nearly 50 percent– by $4 trillion. In just six months the national debt bumped up from $12 trillion to $13 trillion. Soon the minimum payments on this debt will be more than the revenue collected by the government. Just like running a household, if you continue spending more than you’re making eventually you’ll end up in financial ruin. And some believe that’s where America is heading.
Currently there is no requirement that the government needs to work on a balanced budget which means it continues to grow as long as spending surpasses income sources from taxes and other revenue. Experts believe this will be a season of change as Americans become more upset about politicians’ out of control spending.
What do you think? Are you upset with the way America is spending money?
Finally, the government is representing its citizens. Our personal debt has been hovering around $13 Trillion for the past year. Since we, as citizens, can’t control our spending, how can we expect people, elected from amongst us, to act any different?