.jpg)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
In August, the United States national debt crossed $40 trillion for the first time.
Put that number in perspective: when Donald Trump first took office in January 2017, the debt was about $20 trillion. In less than a decade, America has doubled it.
But this should not be a partisan talking point.
The debt increased by roughly $7.8 trillion during Trump’s first term. It increased by approximately $8.5 trillion during Joe Biden’s. Now, less than two years into Trump’s second term, we have added nearly $4 trillion more. At the current pace, the national debt could approach $46 trillion by the time Trump leaves office.
Republ icans blame Democrats. Democrats blame Republicans. Meanwhile, both parties keep borrowing.
Last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to add roughly $4.1 trillion to federal deficits through 2034, including additional interest.
Here in Colorado County, farmers, ranchers, businesses and families understand a fairly basic rule: eventually, the bills have to be paid. Washington apparently operates under a different accounting system. Every trillion dollars added to the debt means still more tax dollars going toward interest rather than roads, agriculture, disaster relief and the needs of communities like ours.
Apparently Washington can find trillions for tax cuts and hundreds of millions for presidential ballrooms. What it cannot find is the political courage to spend what it collects.
There are legitimate disagreements about taxes, defense, Social Security, Medicare and the proper size of government. Solving our fiscal problems will require painful choices that neither party wants to make.
But arithmetic isn’t partisan.
Twenty trillion dollars became forty trillion in less than ten years.
The frightening question isn’t which party did it.
They both did. The question is: at what number will we, the people, finally force our politicians to care?
Trey Brantley of Columbus
