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Consider This - National Spending

By Ted Fortenberry - bio | email

The national debt is climbing at an alarming rate and is projected to be $12 trillion this year - equal to about $40,000 for every American.

If that doesn't get your attention, this should:  Right now the average American pays about 31 percent of their income in taxes. If the current trend continues , we will be paying an average of 45 percent of our income in taxes.

Consider This: Many experts believe the current deficit is a good thing because it helped to stabilize the economy and saved us from diving into an economic depression. One concern is that when we increase our percent of debt so dramatically, we become less stable financially. That increases the leverage of the countries from who we are borrowing - the main concern being China.

To fix this issue, our legislative leaders are going to have to make some tough decisions, and most are not willing to do that because they are more concerned with winning the next election and returning to Washington. The Republicans won't raise taxes, the Democrats won't cut spending and neither wants to address some of the tougher issues like subsidies and government reform. You end up with gridlock and the debt just keeps growing and growing.

Ultimately, all of us will end up paying the price for their unwillingness to work together to come up with a solution to what could be the country's biggest challenge.

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