Blue Dogs Call for Republicans and Democrats to Bring Down the Debt
This post was written by Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairs Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-IL).
Since its founding in 1995, the Blue Dog Coalition has called on Congress to address our out of control deficit spending and to bring down our nation’s debt. During the year of the Coalition’s founding, the national debt was at $4.9 trillion. Today, the total public outstanding debt of the United States has ballooned to $19.8 trillion, and every American citizen holds a share of about $60,966. That’s enough to pay for four years of the average in-state public college tuition and then have over $20,000 left over in your pocket.
We’ve seen this problem continue to grow, and the Blue Dogs have continued to sound the alarm under the leadership of both Republicans and Democrats. This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue — it’s an American issue.
At 77 percent of GDP, the national debt is at its largest share of the economy since the aftermath of World War II, and we’re on an unsustainable fiscal path. If we continue down the same path without serious bipartisan collaboration on this issue, our debt will grow to 91 percent of GDP in just 10 years, and then 150 percent of GDP by 2047. That would be a higher ratio of debt to GDP than Greece had in 2008 at the height of the European financial crisis, sending international markets into a tail spin.
The balance between our nation’s spending and its revenue has been so out of control that we are projected to see the exhaustion of major trust funds that support the most vulnerable of Americans in addition to funds that are key to upholding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. These include the exhaustion of the Highway Trust Fund in 2021, the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund in 2023, the Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) Trust Fund in 2025, and the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund in 2031.
If our nation’s debt continues to increase at the same rate, it will slow economic growth to the point where the economy will shrink by 3 percent by 2047. That also means Americans will see lower incomes and higher interest rates on items like credit cards, mortgages, car loans, and student loans. There will also be lower private investment, and, in turn, fewer jobs.
In a time when our nation is seeing more complex and increased threats from around the world, a continuously rising debt will harm our national security. It will constrain funding to ensure a strong military and hamper diplomacy, and it will reduce the resources we have to ensure a strong economy and maintain our soft power influence around the world. In 2016, Richard Haass, the president of the Council of Foreign Relations, called the mounting debt of the United States a “slow motion crisis.” He identified several strategic risks, including: increased interest rates to finance the U.S. debt, reduced spending on investments at home and abroad, the perception of our economic weakness to other countries, and reduced capability to respond to unforeseen national security and economic events.
On top of addressing our debt, leaders in Congress need to be responsible when it comes to our budgetary and appropriations processes. That means we need to do our jobs and stick to our deadlines rather than lurching from one self-inflicted crisis to another. As representatives of the people, we take our nation’s finances seriously, just as Americans do with their finances. It’s common sense, plain and simple.
That’s why the Blue Dogs are launching a week-long social media campaign, “Bring Down the Debt,” to call on Democrats and Republicans to come together to develop commonsense, bipartisan solutions that address our nation’s looming fiscal crisis. This week, we’ll be talking about facing the facts and why we must work together now — not later — to bring down the debt. This Congress, the Blue Dogs have proposed several solutions to help turn the direction of our debt from upward to downward, and to hold Congress accountable to doing its job on time.
So be sure to follow us on Twitter to #FaceTheFacts and see why we think it’s important to #BringDownTheDebt, and like us on Facebook to hear how the Blue Dogs are leading on these issues.
The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives comprised of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find commonsense solutions. They represent the center of the political spectrum, appealing to the mainstream values of the American public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people. Visit our website to learn more, and get the latest news updates by following us on Twitter or liking us on Facebook.
