: Can You Spare $12 Trillion?.
TownHall Spotlight
This week, the United States’ national debt is expected to reach a record-breaking $12 trillion. And yesterday, the residents of Washington, DC were reminded of how much we owe, as Uncle Sam descended on the nation’s capital to beg for help repaying the national debt. Dressed as a down-and-out panhandler, Uncle Sam appeared at the White House, the Capitol, and other prominent locations around the city.
The costume may be humorous, but the message is dead serious: If America ignores the debt crisis, we will find ourselves broke, bankrupt, and pleading for help.
Our national debt has been growing for a long time, but the latest round of reckless federal borrowing is pushing us closer to disaster. It took 233 years to pile up the first $12 trillion in debt – if we continue on our current course it will only take us 10 years to borrow the second $12 trillion!
DefeatTheDebt.com is dedicated to raising the alarm, and expanding Americans’ understanding of the size and consequences of the national debt. Out-of-touch politicians and a culture of out-of-control spending created the current crisis, so the solution must come from the American public.
The true size of our borrowing is hard to comprehend. News stories are filled with enormous sums of money, and few people really grasp the difference between millions, billions, and trillions. To put these numbers in perspective, consider this:
- A million seconds is about 12 days.
- A billion seconds is 31 years.
- And a trillion seconds? 31,000 years.
Politicians often pay lip service to the debt, and talk about how borrowing today is “mortgaging our children’s future.” That’s true, but it misses the equally important fact that the debt is already extremely expensive.
American taxpayers spend almost $500 million in interest payments every day. That’s half a billion dollars up in smoke – yesterday, today, tomorrow, and the next day.
And if you think that’s bad, consider this: President Obama’s proposed budget for 2019 includes more money for interest payments than for national defense.
If we continue with “business as usual,”
Thanks to our original sponsors, all of your donations will go directly towards education and advocacy, with zero overhead. A $10 donation can help us reach 100 people… with $1,000 we can reach 100,000 people! Please forward this message to your family, friends, coworkers, and anyone concerned about