OPINION:
This nation’s debt is commonly compared with the abuse of a personal credit card. When someone gets too deeply into debt, they must stop spending - and so must the United States.
I think a more valid comparison would be to the similarity between U.S. debt and a developing cancerous growth. When you are told to get treatment, you don’t wait until it has spread throughout your body to get help. You see a cancer specialist immediately and take action to stop the cancer before it kills you.
Our debt is similar, but we are being told that there is no hurry to get treatment, and if we ignore it, perhaps it will go away on its own. But the longer we wait, the more painful the treatment will be and the more likely it is that the treatment will not be successful.
We have reached a stage at which significant cost will be the result of our failure to treat the problem in a more expeditious manner. As usual, the most unfortunate among us will be the hardest hit, and those who are responsible for the delay will attempt to find someone else to blame.
JAMES GILL
Manhattan Beach, Calif.
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