Biggest Challenge Facing the U.S. Term Paper

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1). What must be done? Notwithstanding any decision on taxes, Odland insists that government spending must be cut.

Meanwhile a January, 2013 article in the respected Guardian publication shows that the federal debt ceiling has gone up from "…an unimaginable $14.3 trillion" in August, 2012, to "$16.394tn as part of a package agreed then" (Rogers, 2013). The debt ceiling has not received a great deal of attention in the past but recently Republicans have demanded that the White House agree to severe cuts in the federal budget in return for their willingness to agree to a raise in the debt ceiling. It is what some writers have called a "manufactured crisis" in Washington -- conservatives trying to force the hand of Obama -- but meantime are the Democrats the worst budget managers when it comes to raising the debt ceiling? Not really, Rogers explains. Republican presidents have raised the debt ceiling 54 times and Democrats have raised it 40 times; Ronald Reagan leads all presidents in raising the debt ceiling; he did it 18 times.

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Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson did it 10 times (Rogers, p. 2).

In conclusion, how does the massive deferral debt affect citizens? In the short run, "the economy and voters benefit from deficit spending" (Amadeo, 2012). But in the long run deficit spending is like driving a car with "…the emergency brake on, further slowing the economy" because debt holders (who purchased U.S. Treasury bills) demand "…higher interest payments to compensate for what they perceive as an increasing risk that they won't be repaid" (Amadeo). The federal debt is an enormous drain on the economy and will continue to be a drain until Congress and the executive branch figure out a way to cut spending at the same time they are increasing revenue coming into the Treasury.

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https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/biggest-challenge-facing-us-98972