Reducing national debt is no easy task

June 27, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS

Over coffee at the DeSoto library, Janice Buckles, an educator and lifelong Democrat, vents at the angry, shouting activists she sees on TV lately — folks who want to chop government down to size, depriving it of funds needed for the elderly, the poor and the schools.

She’s plenty worried about the federal debt, too, $13 trillion and growing — worried it will become a pretext to cut the social safety net.

“I believe in reaching out and helping others,” she said. “Those people who earn more — they ought to pay more.”

A half-hour away in Rowlett, in Republican territory, Suzan Fulton is sick of Washington. She’s the office manager at her husband’s financial advising firm. Last year, after 65 years on the political sidelines, she got worried enough about the direction of the country to help start a local Tea Party group.

Like Buckles, two years her senior, Fulton sees the national debt as a threat to the country’s future. But give Washington more money? It would just get wasted. And higher taxes would only choke off growth.

“They have done this for years,” Fulton said. “‘Oh, we are in trouble, so we have to raise taxes.’”

There’s lots of talk lately in Washington about the hard choices facing the country as the debt hits unprecedented levels. But there’s little mystery about the menu of solutions. Spend less, raise taxes, or find ways to grow the economy.

It’s as simple as losing weight. Exercise more and eat less. Everyone knows how easy that is.

The options to avert the looming fiscal crisis are just as unpleasant and unpopular, and Americans don’t seem ready to embrace any of them. Like dieters who indulge their craving for chocolate cake, they demand costly entitlement programs, a robust military and new highways — but punish leaders who try to cover the costs by raising taxes.

They readily tell pollsters that sacrifices are needed but insist that somebody else should make them.

Politicians aren’t known for misreading the electorate; if voters wanted sacrifice, they would get it. So for anyone frustrated with the paralysis in Washington, a glance in the mirror might help explain it.

This year alone, the federal government will spend $1.9 trillion more than it collects — a record — on everything from pills for Grandma to new highways, unmanned drones and school lunches.

By 2020, the Congressional Budget Office says, the budget will be $5.67 trillion, with a $1.254 trillion deficit. The government will owe $20.3 trillion, the equivalent of 90 percent of the nation’s economic output. Even if borrowing costs stay at historic lows — a dubious assumption — interest alone will soak up an astonishing $1 trillion.

That’s $1,000,000,000,000 each year, from China, Saudi Arabia or other lenders, or from U.S. taxpayers, before the government can build a flood-control levee, replace an aging spy satellite, feed a hungry child or hire a new Border Patrol agent.

“Whether you want tax cuts or more spending for education, debt is your worst enemy,” said Bruce Reed, executive director of the new White House commission charged with suggesting remedies later this year.

The only bright spot, he added, is that “there are plenty of hard choices to choose from.”