On the recordJune 15, 2021
I thank the Republican Study Committee for hosting this Special Order hour. Today, our Nation's debt is more than $28 trillion. With a number that large, it is hard to really understand how much taxpayer money we are really talking about. Well, $28 trillion is $1 million 28 million times. Or another way to think about it is it is 28 with 12 zeros behind it. Spending far beyond our means and watching the debt clock grow astronomically higher has real implications for the future of our country and for our citizens. While many out there would like to believe that we can go on spending without some sort of restraint and it doesn't have any consequences, common sense tells us that is not true. Because of overspending, the debt held by Americans has already eclipsed the size of our economy and will top 200 percent of the GDP by 2051. Every American, adult and child, bears a burden of more than $85,000. The problem is so stark that our country spends about $800 million per day on interest payments alone. The net interest costs for taxpayers financing this debt will skyrocket from 1.4 percent of GDP, about $300 billion this year, to 8.6 percent of GDP. That would be more than 2\1/2\ times higher than what the U.S. currently spends on defense as a percent of our GDP. Another way to look at this problem is through the lens of any family budget and take away some zeros. Let's say in 2020 an individual made $34,000.…
