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Debt a looming issue

The national debt and spending need to be addressed:

Treasury officials now face a trifecta of headaches: a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are sure to climb back to normal as soon as the Federal Reserve decides that the emergency has passed.

Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today’s low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages.

With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.

In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. The article doesn't mention the long-term unfunded liabilities of our entitlement plans. It's also unfortunate that rather than addressing this issue head on, the Obama Administration wants to spend more money on bad health care policy.

I agree that past issues with spending aren't the current administration's fault. I would also agree that Republicans haven't owned up to the fiscal abortion that was the Bush Administration, but Obama and Democrats in Congress are doing nothing to get a handle on spending, in fact they are going to run up another $9 trillion in debt over the next ten years.

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