Jon Kyl: “during the next few months, millions of Americans will confront the annual task of filing their income-tax returns. What…”

“during the next few months, millions of Americans will confront the annual task of filing their income-tax returns. What people would be startled to learn is that about 53 cents of every dollar of individual income tax they send in to the IRS this year will be required just to pay the interest on the national debt. That is 53 cents out of every dollar that will not be available to spend on health care for children, for education, for the environment, for aid to victims of domestic violence, for law enforcement, for national defense, or for any of the other important programs that serve the American people. It is 53 cents of every dollar just to pay interest on the bills that Congress and the President have racked up in years past. That 53 cents of every dollar does not even begin to pay down the national debt, which is increasing at a rate of $4,500 per second--a debt that threatens our children's very future. It now totals more than $5.3 trillion, or about $20,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country. Some people say that a balanced budget would mean drastic cuts in important programs. But it is really the deficit--the debt--that is savaging our ability to respond to the Nation's needs. How much more could we do for the American people if we did not have to set aside 53 cents of every income-tax dollar just to pay interest?”