I found a fantastic booklet on The Heritage Foundation's website here, http://www.paramountcommunication.com/heritage/slay_the_beast/, if you want to order one. It is a primer on the affect the Federal Debt has on our everyday lives, especially anyone aged 5 - 30.
They name anyone between 5 - 30 years old the Debt-Paying Generation and claim that we will be "the generation that improves the least from the time we start to work to the time we start to retire."
Where are we at right now with our National Debt? "Total debt was at $9.1 trillion at the beginning of 2011... This debt will double in just the next ten years." In addition to this is the looming crisis of the Baby Boomers retiring which will cause the government to borrow more to pay for their Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Our debt will skyrocket even higher in a few short years.
This is a bipartisan issue. This mess has been made by both parties and it will affect everyone regardless of their political affiliation and economic status. They show a graph that depicts which party was leading the Congress since 1965 and regardless of who has been in control Federal Spending has increased.
There are 4 ways to deal with debt.
~ Raise taxes - this slows the economy
~Lower spending - this balances the budget
~Inflation - this option makes everything cost more for us
~Not pay - this choice takes decades to recover from
What does this mean for you (if you are between 5 - 30)? The Heritage Foundation claims that you will marry later in life, take longer to pay off student loans, probably have fewer children, have a lower income than present day counterparts, less savings, poorer health (because of lower income), and you will not be able to give your children as much as your parents gave you.
What can be done?
Obviously, Congress and the President need to establish fiscally responsible practices, like balancing the budget and offering less in entitlements.
What should you do personally?
Call your Senators and Congressmen about your concerns
Open a Savings Account
Stick to a monthly budget
This information came from The Heritage Foundations' booklet, Slay the Beast: How you can save us from our Massive Debt by Bill Beach and Rob Bluey
I know some people might be wondering why it is that raising taxes slows the economy. The sweeping reason is that when you are giving more of your money to the government, you have less of it to put into the private sector, which is what fuels the economy.
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