The largest factors contributing to “[t]he explosion in the national debt” are the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Bush tax cuts. http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-bush-policies-deficits-2010-6 Now is not the time for belt-tightening when it comes to consumer spending. Ben Bernanke, a scholar of the Great Depression, knew the dangers of liquidity crises and deflationary spirals and, to his great credit, pushed for the bank rescues, TARP, and stimulus spending. He was the right man in the right place at the right time. And you can be thankful that Hank Paulson, the former Treasury Secretary, let go of his laissez-faire flavored conservatism and did most of the right things when the stakes were highest.
Deficits are a long-term concern. We would be foolish to choke off the nascent recovery (in the name of partisanship or an overly zealous and naive desire for an immediately balanced budget) with “austerity measures.”
You say that the rise in the national debt “has already had cripping effects.” Really? Like what? I can assure you that the effects of sitting on our hands in the name of balancing the budget would have been “crippling” indeed. Do you remember what happened when the government allowed Lehman Brothers to fail? The Dow experienced its largest daily point loss ever. That was just a taste. Read about the Great Depression to learn what happens when the powers that be continue to act as if it’s business as usual during a sharp economic contraction.
