National Debt

Letter writer Ron Wirsing seems to have a conveniently short memory when it comes to gas prices ("Obama's policies mean we will soon see $5 gas," Feb. 24). He wants to "go back to 2008 prices. " I remember 2008 gas prices well, as I had a service business at the time. Gas was $4.20 a gallon for regular. This was duringGeorge W. Bush's presidency. When President Bush came into office in 2002, gas was only $1.40 a gallon. So gas tripled in price during the time Mr. Bush was in office.

It was recently reported thatExxon Mobil Corp.earned $825 billion in revenue in 2011. Think about that for a moment. That is nearly one trillion dollars in just one year, made largely on the backs of hard-working Americans forced to pay $4 per gallon at the pump. And where is all this money going? No doubt to pay for fat executive bonuses and to bribe corrupt members of Congress to continue doing the bidding of the oil industry. Clearly, a change is in order, and with that in mind I propose the following: Since we are now in the business of invading countries in order to steal their oil (under the guise of a war on terror)

Let's take another look at the idea promoted by conservatives that Medicare is responsible for the national debt. Prescription drugs would have cost a lot less if Congress had been more concerned with minimum expense to Medicare than with maximum profit for drug companies. Increases in monthly premiums for higher-income beneficiaries are negligible, and their needs are similar to everyone else's. It is possible that healthy lower-income seniors are subsidizing their care. General fund "subsidies" are actually repayment of loans from the Medicare Trust Fund.

If you have a college student in the family - or an interest in presidential politics - by now you've probably heard that the interest rates on Stafford student loans are set to double on July 1 unless Congress takes action. President Barack Obama has been touring college campuses this week asking that rates be held to 3.4 percent. As one might imagine, this is a message that has some traction with young voters, a crucial bloc for Democrats, and the reception at places like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where the president has taken his message, has been warm and welcoming.

Letter writer Edward Leventhal might be more believable if he got his facts right. He contends "Obama tripled our national debt. " ("Insisting on budget cuts before raising the debt ceiling isn't 'playing chicken,' it's being responsible," June 7) Facts: When Bill Clinton was our president, he had us on the road to eliminating the national debt within 10 years. Then George W. Bush came along with "vote for me and I will send every American $300. " He said this because we had a surplus!

My suggestion to the Government Accountability Office and the president is to give the citizens of this great nation a venue to buy back our national debt and hold it in perpetuity, never to be used as collateral on a national mortgage again. If the president and the GAO will tell us, the citizenry, the account number and an address to send the money to, those of us who are willing and able can put our money where the problem is. Since Congress is so involved in political wrangling in the midst of a crisis, we shouldn't involve them.

I would like for everyone to call the White House and ask that an Internet fund site be opened for those who wish to donate directly to reduce the national debt. Maybe the White House can make the donations tax deductible. I would like every American who can afford it to give a dollar, and those who can afford to give more, to do so. We can directly reduce the national debt immediately. The high national debt affects tax rates, interest rates and other personal finances. I believe that reducing it will help Americans feel comfortable to go spending again which, in turn, will help other economies of the world.

When Rep. Andy Harris spoke at a Cecil County senior center recently, the first slide he showed on the wall behind him was an ominous chart projecting exponential growth over the next seven decades. The slide's title: "Tidal wave of debt. " "This is a real crisis," the first-term Republican told the seniors in Elkton as he gestured toward the chart. "I didn't get sent to Washington to sit by idly while this happens. " After a months-long battle over government spending and budget deficits in Washington, Harris and Republicans nationwide are under renewed pressure from tea party and other conservative groups to take a tough stand against raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — even if that means risking economic turmoil.

"Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt," Herbert Hoover quipped 80 years ago. Today, the United States has $9.4 trillion in federal debt and another $50 trillion in unfunded government promises to future generations. Some joke. What this represents is a fiscal millstone for future generations and a moral travesty for all of us. Many philosophers - and even some politicians - have recognized that social morality is ultimately about stewardship: preserving a good world for future generations.

A new economics documentary that explores rising gas, food and health care costs will be presented in theaters across the nation Thursday, including at the Bel Air Cinema 14 at 8 p.m. The live panel discussion will feature Warren Buffet, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway; William Niskanen, chairman of the CATO Institute; Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP; and Dave Walker, president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former U.S. comptroller...

For all the difficult problems the nation faces, from high unemployment to mounting national debt to the vexing war in Afghanistan, the contest for the Republican presidential nomination process has produced far more distractions than solutions. Primary voters and caucus-goers have elevated and rejected a string of front-runners, each seemingly more improbable than the last. And fueling it all has been the corrosive influence of millions in unlimited and unregulated campaign spending through super PACs that has propped some candidates up past their shelf lives and allowed for barrages of negative advertising the likes of which voters have rarely seen.

Letter writer Ron Wirsing seems to have a conveniently short memory when it comes to gas prices ("Obama's policies mean we will soon see $5 gas," Feb. 24). He wants to "go back to 2008 prices. " I remember 2008 gas prices well, as I had a service business at the time. Gas was $4.20 a gallon for regular. This was duringGeorge W. Bush's presidency. When President Bush came into office in 2002, gas was only $1.40 a gallon. So gas tripled in price during the time Mr. Bush was in office.

The White House wants you to tweet about how you would use an extra $40 in your paycheck as part of a second Twitter campaign to extend the payroll tax cut Workers last year and the first two months of this year have had the amount taken out of the paychecks for the payroll tax cut by 2 percentage points. They still pay a payroll tax of 4.2 percent of earnings that goes toward Social Security. According to the Washington Post , the White House used the same Twitter campaign in December to prod reluctant Republicans in Congress to extend this tax cut. The Post says back then more than 30,000 people weighed in about the $40. (Republicans already appear to be going along with extending the tax break through the end of this year.)

I grew up among scientists ambivalent about church. At age 10, I argued my friend out of literal creationism. We decided to make up our own philosophy, the basis of Classical Cynicism. We relabeled Christianity Paulism because Paul mostly wrote the New Testament. Confirmed a Methodist at 13, I thought Jesus was a cool guy. At 14, I argued my grandfather to a stalemate about his newfound faith in Joseph Smith. I felt a dozen witnesses to the golden plates bearing the sacred text of the Mormon faith were shills for a real confidence man. They were offered multiple wives.

As a fifth grader, I agree that compromise is needed to rebuild America ("A resolution for 2012: Restore American values," Dec. 28). But it was amazing to see how people in the Congress could not get along in 2011 and blamed President Obama for everything. Congress took more breaks than the average elementary school child. For example, from August to September I was working hard in school and the Congress was, like, out watching Happy Feet. America's national debt is more than $14 trillion and people who need jobs don't have them.

As the president of a small business in Baltimore, I know a thing or two about the difficulty that entrepreneurs face when trying to get a loan from a bank in this struggling economy. I can also tell you from my personal experiences that — when others are unable or unwilling to help — independent, philanthropic investments can be a real lifeline to small businesses. Now, however, the Obama administration wants Congress to reduce the charitable tax deduction as part of its deficit-reduction plan, making it harder for Americans to give back to their communities through philanthropy.

WASHINGTON -- Interest payments on the mushrooming national debt are growing so fast that this major outlay is almost eclipsing the amount Congress appropriates each year for all domestic programs, new government figures show.The government paid $194.5 billion in interest payments last year on its debt, just a shy less than the $195.4 billion spent on these domestic programs, which range from education aid and work training to low-income energy assistance, prison operations, housing subsidies, the customs service and space stations.

DECIDING what to do with the budget surpluses is the major policy question facing this Congress. Projected surpluses of several trillion dollars over the next decade have created a clamor of demands: cut taxes, save Social Security, pay down the national debt, and increase education, transportation, job training and other federal programs.Congress' first priority should be ensuring continued economic growth. The best way to extend a steady recovery far into the next millennium is by paying down the $3.7 trillion in national debt.

A whole lot of Democrats and independents were probably delighted to hear President Barack Obama demonstrate a little more resolve in the deficit reduction debate today. In unveiling his $3 billion proposal to reduce federal debt over the next decade through both spending cuts and tax increases, the president also outlined some core principles — among them that he won't support any measure that requires the middle class and poor to do all the sacrificing in order to preserve tax loopholes and other advantages for the rich.

We are in a financial crisis. As I read various papers and listen to the debates on television, it appears that there are two possible ways to approach the situation. One, as espoused by President Barack Obama and other liberals ("Let them eat tax cuts," Sept. 12), is the Keynesian theory that the best way to get out of a recession is to dramatically increase government spending (more big infrastructure projects). The theory is that this will put people to work and increase domestic spending and cure the recession.