OPINION:
Our current national debt is $35.8 trillion. The federal government will eventually face consequences for continuing spending more money than it raises in taxes.
The costs of high federal debt are evident. A seventh of all federal spending in 2024 paid for interest payments on debt the government has accumulated. That’s almost equal to what Washington will spend this year on Medicare and more than it will spend on the military.(Social Security is nearly twice as costly as Medicare, the military or debt interest.)
Interest payments will account for an even larger share of the federal budget in coming years, leaving less money for everything else. The interest payments mean that the longer the government waits to deal with its growing debt, the more painful the solution will be for all of us.
LARRY PENNER
Great Neck, New York
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