National debt explained

Published 3:30 pm Thursday, October 28, 2010

Today our national debit is over $13 trillion. It has grown from 40 percent to 62 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. What are the consequence of this enormous national debit? I cannot grasp “trillions,” so let’s put it on a personal level that at least I can understand.

Keeping it simple, and trying to equate the concept to the national debit – when you die, if you have $500 in the bank, and a $400,500 mortgage, the inheritance you leave your kids is a $400,000 debit that they will have to pay. That is what we are doing to our kids and grandkids for generations to come, leaving them an inheritance of national debit.

Is that want we want for our kids? Do we love them enough to want to avoid passing on a debit of that nature? Everyone wants something for nothing, which is assumed to be free. But nothing is free. Our dollars pay for everything, because the government has no money – it can only take ours to spend.

We have to stop this cycle of the government taking care of us in every aspect of our lives so that this debit is not passed on to our offspring.

Larry Brickman, Bellevue