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MatthewElgin JohnKubler English114A December6,2013 CrisisOnOurHands ThenationaldebtcrisishasbeenahugeissueandconcernwiththecountryandtheAmerican people.Therehasbeenahugedebatebetweeneachpoliticalpartyifthereshouldbeanincreaseof taxesfortherichornottodecreasethenationaldebt.Furthermore,thishascausedcongressthe inabilitytoreachcertaindecisionsthatdealwiththedebtandtheexpensesthegovernmentareusingfor unnecessaryprograms.Theorieshavebeenproposedtodealwiththenationaldebt,butseemsthatno onewantstoagreeonanythingtosettletheproblem.Therehasbeenahugedisappointmentandhuge amountsoffrustrationleftontheAmericanpeoplesincethegovernmentisincapabletogetthingsdone. Thegovernmenthasbeenonabusyschedulethesepastyearswithallofthechaostheyhavetodeal witheachandeveryday/year.Ononeofthebiggestimportanteventsthathavehappenedthispast decadesofarisdefinitelythegovernmentshuttingdown.Onlyhasthegovernmentbeenshutdown once,andthatwasin1995.Nothavingtocomeupwithaconsensusforadealonsolvingtheproblem withthegovernmentsloandebts.Thesedebtshavebeencriticalfactorsonoureconomicrecession andpartastowhyourdebthasbeenincreasinglyrisingoverthepastfewyears.However,the9/11 terroristattack,Bushtaxcuts,andthedrugreformwiththeeliminationofthePayasyougopolicyare theoriesofhowthenationaldebtstarted.Withthesetheoriesthereareseveralreasonsastohowto approachandsolvethiseconomiccrisisinwhichweareheadinginthegutter,ifnotsolvedsooneror later.

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Mostindividuals,whethertheyareinschoollearningaboutthegovernmentdebtorarejust curiousaboutwhatsgoingon,wanttoknowhowthisgovernmentdebtcrisisstarted.Accordingtothe EconomicDownturnAndBushPoliciesContinueToDriveLargeProjectedDeficitsbyKathyRuffing andJamesHorney,PresidentBushstaxcutsandthewarsinAfghanistanandIraqexplainvirtuallythe entiredeficitoverthenexttenyears(Ruffing&Horney,1).PresidentBushstaxcutswereprimarily theinitialstartofwhenourcountrybegantofalltowardsthedeficit.Alongwiththetaxcuts,wealso begantogointothewarafterthe9/11terroristattacks.AstoldintheFrontlinevideo10Millionand Counting,the9/11terroristattackscausedoneofthebiggesttragediesinAmericanhistory.The attackshavenotonlybroughtonfeartotheAmericanpeople,butalsothegovernment,whichtheysoon turnedtowaragainstIraqandAfghanistan.Thesetwowarshavebroughtuponsomuchdebtinwhich wehadtoborrowmoneyfromothercountriestohelpfightandsupportthesewars.Borrowingmoney fromothercountrieshasbecomeoneofourmainassetsinourgovernmenttohelpsupportour programsandofcourse,war.Borrowingmoneymayseemlikemoreofanegativething,butthatisthe onlyoptionforthegovernmenttokeepourprogramsrunningandfunctioningthisoptiondoeshowever comeataprice,anditisnotapricethatwelikeatall.Tothisday,thegovernmentisindebtbyabout $17trillion.Wecannotkeepthisdebtthatisholdingusback,andweneedtofindsomewaytohelp solve/reducethisenormousdebtthatwehavegotteninto. TherearemanycitizensthatarebecomingconcernedwithhowtheNationalGovernmentis functioningwithhowtheyarespendingtoomuchmoney.Thesecitizensandcertainpoliticianshave thoughtofcertainsolutionstoaddresshowtoreducethelargeamountofdebt.Onesolutionthatis proposedtothenationisraisingtaxes.TheNationalDebtSolutionsstatethatthetaxesneedtobe higher(NationalDebtSolutions,1).Taxingthewealthymoreshouldbethewaytogobecausethey

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havemoremoneytogivethanthemajorityofAmerica,inwhichthewealthyarerepresentedbythe1% ofthecountry.Anothersolutionthatispossibleistoprivatizesocialsecurityaccounts.Accordingto IVN,ThenetpresentvalueofprivatizingSocialSecurityisestimatedtobeasgreatas $20,000,000,000,000(Messamore,1).Withprivatizingsocialsecurityaccountsalonecangreatly signifyourNationalDebttoalargeamountofreductiontowhatitistoday.Chilehashadasuccessful SocialSecuritysystemthatwasprivatizedin1980,andwithin15years,theirresultsoftheSocial Securitywerestellar(1).Therearemanywaysastohowthegovernmentcanapproachthesituationof thegrowingNationalDebt,butthegovernmenthasntfoundasolidoptiontohelpsolvetheproblem. ThoughmostpeoplethinkthatthegovernmentshouldraisethetaxesontheAmericanpeople, especiallytherich,therearealotofciviliansthatthinkthattaxesshouldntberaised.JohnHawkinswho wrotethearticle5ReasonsWeShouldntRaiseTaxesRightNowstatesthatoneofthereasonswe shouldntraisetaxesisbecauseRaisingtaxesslowslongtermeconomicgrowth(Hawkins,1).This doesseemtrueaswehaveseeninthepastseveralyearssincethehousingmarkethascrashed,the economyhasbeenslowlygrowingandgettingbackastohowitwasbeforethehousingmarketever crashed.WealsoseealotofRepublicansnotwantingtoraisetaxesbecausetheyaretheoneswho ownalotofcompaniesthatdealwithagricultureandtradingmarkets,andtheyaretheonesthatdont wanttobetaxedthemost.ThecontinuousdebatebetweentheDemocratsandtheRepublicansto reachanewdealastohowtheycanreducethegovernmentdeficitleadtoagovernmentshutdown.The governmenthasyettoreachadeal,sotheyextendedthedeadlinetofebruary.Theproblemastohow toapproachtosolve/reducethenationaldebthasbecomeagreaterissuetooursocietyandwillsoon comeatimewherewewillallhavetopaytheprice. Allinall,oursocietyhasbeengreatlybeenimpactedbyhowourgovernmentstartedthe

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growingNationalDebtthatithasbecometoday.FromthecausesoftheBushtaxcutsandthe9/11 terroristattackstothenumeroussolutionsofraisingtaxesandprivatizingourSocialSecurity,weare facedwiththeseissuesastohowwewillsolvethisgrowingproblem.OurcountrysNationalDebtwill soonbefacedtothenextgeneration,andwewillhavetopaythepriceoftodaysdebtinthefuture,as towheretheBabyBoomersaresoontoretireandtherewontbeenoughSocialSecurityforthemto retirewith.NomatterwhatorhowwearefacedwiththeNationalDebt,wewillalwaysbedealtwith thenationaldebtnotonlyinthepresent,butalsointhenearfuture.

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WorksCited Ruffing,KathyA.,andJamesR.Horney.ECONOMICDOWNTURNANDBUSHPOLICIES CONTINUETODRIVELARGEPROJECTEDDEFICITS.Washington,DC:Centeron BudgetandPolicyPriorities,10May2011.PDF.11Nov,2013. Hawkins,John.5ReasonsWeShouldntRaiseTaxesRightNow.Townhall.com.Townhall.com,16 Nov.2010.Web.11Nov,2013. Milsted,Carl,Jr.ItsTimetoGetOutofDebt!GettingAmericaOutofDebt.NationalDebt Solutions,n.d.Web.11Nov,2013. TenTrillionAndCounting.PBS.org.FRONTLINE,24Mar.2009.Web.13Nov.2013. Messamore,W.E.SevenCreativeSolutionstotheNationalDebtCrisis.IVNus.FIVE,9Aug. 2012.Web.13Nov,2013.