FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If this doesn't scare you, it should:
Our national debt is increasing at the rate of $5 billion a day and has now passed a record $13-trillion. Since President Obama has taken office, the debt has increased $2.4-trillion in less than 17 months. Staggering.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/17/art.debt.clock.jpg caption=" FILE PHOTO: A shot of the National Debt Clock on July 13, 2009. "]
We are in a fiscal crisis every bit as serious as the environmental crisis in the Gulf. And the implications are even more dire.
It doesn't really matter whose fault it is. And blaming someone doesn't make it all right. We, the taxpayers, are the ones who will have to pay.
A piece on CNNMoney.com called "Why U.S. Debt Matters to You" describes how this burden won't only fall on future generations - it will affect all of us.
Several problems could happen sooner rather than later, including slower economic growth and higher interest payments.
Some say if something isn't done soon, the U.S. could face a debt crisis in as few as five years. But nothing is being done; and nothing probably will be. See, there is an election in November and the gutless people we elect to run the country won't do anything until after that - if they even do anything then.
The president has appointed a commission to study the problem. It's pretty much worthless - has absolutely no power to change anything... just make recommendations which aren't due until December.
How many $5-billion-dollar days is that?
Meantime the country is like one of those Toyotas with the accelerator stuck... going faster and faster straight for disaster. And nobody cares.
Here’s my question to you: How much do you worry about the $13-trillion federal debt?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Lance in California writes:
Jack, I worry a LOT! I look around the world today and see country after country on the verge of collapse: Greece, Spain, Italy, Hungary. They are falling like dominos, and every one of them is the result of excessive spending/uncontrolled deficit. Many of our cities and states are on the verge of bankruptcy, and if they go down, the entire country will follow soon. Frightened is an understatement, because I do not see the government doing anything to stop the excesses.
Gary in Michigan writes:
I worry less about the debt than the revolution and rioting it will bring if something is finally done about it. You said it in your piece: nothing is being done and nothing will be done during an election year. That is because of the backlash we the American people will create when we don't get our goodies. So is it the government that is dysfunctional or is it the people who are dysfunctional and spoiled? It is both.
Ron writes:
Sadly, one answer to your question is that many are not at all worried about this massive federal debt as they can only see what the government has and will do for them.
Robert writes:
I worry a lot. I am a recently retired baby boomer with a finite nest egg. I worry every day if our escalating national debt will result in rampant inflation which will wipe out that nest egg. My financial advisers are useless because they don't know what to do. It's really scary!
Brandon writes:
I worry about the national debt every day. Money is power, the world is headed for some dark times, and as the debt rises the U.S. is going to lose its power to foster, support, and enforce Western values that have served civilization for the last two hundred years.
Tom in Olean, New York writes:
The $13 trillion federal debt scares me every time I on turn on the television or open a newspaper. But every time I hold my grandchildren and wonder what it will do to their lives, it horrifies me. It has to stop somewhere.
Eugene in Richmond, Virginia writes:
Jack, Welcome to the club. We enjoy drinking tea during the Situation Room.