By George Pace
THE PRINCIPLE OF fiscal responsibility has been lost in the past decade, as evidenced by our national debt increasing from $5.7 trillion, 56 percent of Gross National Product, in 2000 to an estimated $13.5 trillion, or almost 90 percent of GNP in 2010. Furthermore, the current administration forecasts that by 2020 the national debt will exceed $22 trillion, or more than 100 percent of GNP! Said another way, interest expense on our national debt will exceed $1 trillion a year by the end of the next decade, unless we demand that our elected officials rediscover the principle of fiscal responsibility.
We need to limit the federal national debt to no more than 60 percent of GNP, which would mean our national debt would have to be reduced by $5 trillion to $6 trillion in the next decade. This will be a daunting task, requiring targeted tax increases and significant spending reductions. My recommendations follow:
