Dear Mr. President,


Four years ago, I decided to borrow a few hundred dollars from my Grandpa to buy my own laptop. I happily walked off with the check, not thinking about what would come after. But then came the time to pay it all back. With interest. This part of the bargain was not so fun. I worked countless hours doing yard work for him just so I could get out of debt. But this experience taught me a valuable lesson: debt sucks. However, the public debt of the United States stands at more than $50,000 per citizen, and according to the Congressional Budget Office,or CBO, has risen to $16 trillion overall. That’s a whole lot of lawn mowing. This is a critical issue that greatly threatens the future of our great nation, and the time to start getting rid of this debt is now.

Whenever the national debt comes up in debate, a lot of half-truths are usually thrown around. According the the CBO, the vast majority of the debt is held by U.S. citizens and investors, while only 8% is held by China. However, this does not mean that the amount of debt we have is any less dangerous. Debt helped bring down the Roman Empire, and ironically enough, Britain’s debt led to the taxes that started the American Revolution.

I propose that we begin immediately by cutting wasteful spending from the budget. Defense spending should also be trimmed, as we should not have to constantly be paying for two ground wars at the same time. I don’t believe taxes should be raised. But if we close some tax loopholes, we can increase revenue enough to close the budget gap. However, none of this will help if we cannot contain the skyrocketing money spent on Medicare and Social Security. These programs need to be rethought from the ground up to ensure more fiscal responsibility, and to still ensure a basic social safety net several years down the road.

It’s time the U.S. government, and you, Mr. President, take responsibility for our spending. Our current mindset is that of an immature teenage girl let loose in a mall with a credit card. We’re spending freely without thinking of the consequences we’ll eventually have to deal with. So today I respectfully ask you, Mr. President, to put our country on the fiscally responsible path that will ensure the American Dream remains alive for many generations to come.

Sincerely,

Griffin T.