National Debt

Travis Turner is a proponent of addressing the US National Debt which costs a trillion in interest each year ($1.0 x 10 ^ 12). It costs each American (3.5 x 10 ^ 8) about $3,600 each year ($300 month) per capita. You pay it in annual inflation. Government can only support itself in three ways: raising taxes, reducing spending, or inflating the value of our currency so what bought $1000 buys only $942 the following year and $889 the next and $834 the next and so forth. If you are feeling defeated each time you go grocery shopping, to a healthcare visit, or pay a college tuition bill you will know why. Please call your congress person and state government leaders, and then ask them to reduce spend across the board by 25% as a good starting point on reducing the national debt.

Then go to the store and ask to buy some federally made goods and you won’t find anything. The government produces only a few useful services with the main thing being military protection, air traffic control, national parks, TSA, Homeland Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and export/import technical controls. We are the beneficiaries of a constitutional republic that was created by our ancestors. We were born into this country or moved here hopefully legally. In either case, the prosperity we have is a historical inheritance by people who worked very hard and until WWII, adopted a pay for government as incurred approach. The sexual revolution in the 1970s lead to a drop in family size due to a lack of trust between the genders. Being faithful when married (no adultery) supports family growth, military recruitment, and helps solve the demographic issues with Social Security. It also caused us to forget what made America successful- hard work, cooperative, civic engagement, decency, innovation, and keeping a limited government that passes useful laws but that does not “fix” (break) the economy. If you want to get wealthy as a family, you work hard to produce income together, cut spending, avoid major mistakes, and invest the difference in economic opportunities. The collection of 100 million American families (US) is no different. Family budgets and family success are the same as federal government budget and success, only the scale is different. Ask your politicians to maintain the same standards you live out home such as not getting into trouble financially.

The national debt issue is solvable but it requires wisdom and sacrifice. The longer we wait to address it, the more severe the austerity measures that will be required and it will cause a hard landing. Every dollar of federal government spending produces as an economic return close to zero with few exceptions. We have sufficient laws on the books and they are enforced mostly well with some exceptions. Every dollar of federal savings allows potential entrepreneurs to start a business or a company to make a private capital investment. Most jobs are created by small to midsize business owners. Large employers grow employment for a while then replace them equipment and technology which is all part of economic development and leads to economies of scale such as at big box retailers or online. Private investment causes substantial economic growth. Our current economy is a direct reflection of the private investment that incurred in recent and historical times. Private savings lowers the cost of capital as well as decreasing the interest rates on residential mortgages which supports housing affordability. When you are at a minimum wage stores or situations, ask the employers and employees to use 401k with 401k matches so they don’t get left behind. Those without sophisticated financial training do not typically understand retirement planning extremely well so a three min customer explanation of 401k and 401k matching to a cashier is a great public service and is almost always well received though not always implemented by the recipient. If customers demand that retail workers get decent 401k plans with matching, then market forces will help socioeconomic prospects for retail workers. This is the new buy American.

Please reject any new government handouts if you can manage but especially any new $2000 misc checks that are sent out periodically as political fix the economy stunts. These checks are federally financed so you might get a $2000 check now but pay $5000 in future interest, taxes, and inflation. This is why inflation is going up. Price controls also don’t work – they cause rundown apartments, housing shortages, and empty grocery shelves. Do an online search of price control failures and you will be amused.

Inflation used to go up only a tiny bit, not 12 to 18 percent like it has in recent years. CPI numbers have some reality in some contexts but they are also greatly manipulated in other areas to hide inflation. If you feel poorer the last twenty years, you now know why. A national defense is a good idea but it should be used sparingly in a strongly deterrent and self-defensive manner. Each foreign war cost trillions of dollars and often requires follow up national building on purpose or by accident. Would you rather have that money in private investment so you can buy cheap new technologies like smart phones, home robots that work well, other new inventions, and improved quality of life. Paying down the national debt will lead to a surge in GDP growth and a restoration of national optimism and hope for the years ahead. In the 1980s, the US was a net creditor of the world not like a net debtor like it is now. The economist Keynes lied or was mistaken. Government spending wastes money in 98% of cases and ends up being lost through bad bookkeeping, corruption, and useful government project like an art sculpture that costs several million. Even if it worked temporarily by WWII spending, it should have been paid off the following decade rather the Ponzi scheme approach to federal finances we have now.

Please work hard at your income opportunities and call your state and federal representatives and demand federal deficit reduction and across the board budget costs and keep national defense spending steady for a while. Thank you for your support of this important National Debt Reduction movement.

Travis Turner, Esq., M.S.
A concerned citizen