What difference does it make?

By Jan Dolcater

    The title is not a reference to Hillary Clinton in regard to Benghazi, but instead it refers to potential candidates from both sides of the political spectrum. Today the third Republican will announce his entrance into the presidential race just as Mrs. Clinton did earlier. I encourage all not be confused by the rhetoric of advancing the cause of the middle class or working to take back our country, but instead to focus on the level of our national debt and who is offering a genuine plan to address this problem. This does not mean that these other issues are not important, but they do not rise to the level of importance of our debt and how to deal with it.

    For some reason most individuals and families seem to ignore debt and that is particularly true of the $18 trillion national debt. Perhaps this is because far too many families are deeply mired in credit card debt and are oblivious of the catastrophic danger that our country is facing and must come to grips with. It may be that the actual dollar amount is so far out of their understanding due to its enormity that the fear of it is simply brushed aside. However, this public burden must be dealt with in the near future or our nation, as we know it, cannot survive.
    Over the last six-plus years the administration has been involved in what amounts to “binge spending.” The national debt prior to Obama taking office was in excess of $10 trillion, but since that time it has almost doubled and very likely will actually double by the time he leaves office. No nation, although many have tried, has ever been able to continue to create money by printing more of it and attempting to spend their way to prosperity.
    The simple fact is that our country today is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world and it currently does not have any plan to pay this obligation off. If the public does not exercise their demand to meet this problem other countries will simply not accept the dollar as a means of repayment. It should be understood that the current rate of interest of the Federal Reserve is near zero and as this begins to increase, which it will do soon, it will simply add significant new dollar amounts of interest and only exacerbate our situation.
    As the presidential race for 2016 heats up do not simply listen to various economic plans, programs discussing the revision of the tax code, or get tangled in the web of discussions of what our foreign policy should or should not be. Please pay attention to what focus the candidates have to say about addressing this horrendous problem. If they ignore it, and encourage more new spending programs without those programs not having any meaningful offset in spending cuts, that is nothing more than an attempt to buy your vote.
    Do not misunderstand my effort to focus on our debt as there are many important areas for our citizens to consider in a very serious manner. However, it should be the primary goal of thoughtful and genuine candidates to address this problem by encouraging the adoption of a balanced budget and initiating a plan to reduce this obligation. In addition to the issue discussed in this article we also must face the fact that we have enormous unfunded liabilities in both our Social Security and Medicare programs and they also must be dealt with and not delayed with promises and idle conservation. If both are not dealt with by adopting significant and adequate provisions and changes soon, these programs will crumble as well.
    Fiscal responsibility is essential in the candidate that you choose to support in 2016 as your future and the future well being of your family depends on it
    Jan Dolcater of Rockport is a member of a group of concerned Midcoast citizens who meet to discuss issues of public interest. Their weekly column “Another View” has been awarded by the Maine Press Association.