It’s time for America to wake up to the real crisis facing this country. You can hate Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE. You can hate the MAGA movement.

You can hate taxes, welfare and illegal immigration. You can hate Democrats.

You can hate DEI, woke and LGBTQ rights. You can hate China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. BUT, none of those is the real crisis facing America. The number one problem in America is our national debt resulting from the inability to control federal spending.

The national debt currently stands at $36.2 trillion. That is a very, very large number that most folks cannot comprehend. Allow me to use some simple math to help put this in perspective. The population of the United States is 340,110,988. Dividing the national debt by our total population means that every man, woman and child in our country, regardless of age, has an outstanding debt of $106,436. Equating this debt to those of us having the privilege to file tax returns each year, the number becomes a staggering $215,476. In order to pay down the national debt over a 10-year period, everyone’s taxes would have to increase by $21,548 per year … and that number does not include any accruing interest!

Most every American has a credit card. Unfortunately, many people have a significant credit card balance hanging over their head that is difficult to manage. Some folks can only pay the minimum due, while others may be able to pay the accrued interest and a small portion of the principal. Regardless, it is challenging. Now think about adding your share of the National Debt to that credit card balance. Impossible … right? For almost everyone that would be a monthly bill they could not manage and filing for bankruptcy would be their only option. Well, that is exactly the situation that the United States is currently facing.

In 2023, the U.S. government spent $6.2 trillion. Total revenue from all sources was $4.5 trillion. So, to pay our bills, the U.S. government had to finance an additional $1.7 trillion by borrowing money to cover the difference. In other words, they jacked up the national debt another $1.7 trillion. In 2023, $659 billion of the federal budget was needed just to pay the interest on the national debt. There was no payment toward the principal because we had no money to do so.

The U.S. government is grossly mismanaging the country’s finances and recklessly spending our tax dollars. In addition, they are abusing our credit card by running up the national debt. I use the term “our credit card” because as U.S. citizens, like it or not, our names are on the credit card and we are the people responsible to pay off the national debt. Without a major change in spending habits the United State will go bankrupt. This is our country’s real crisis and everyone in the United States should be worried sick about it.

We are literally strapping our children and grandchildren with a debt that they will not be able to afford. If this country goes bankrupt there will be no money for Social Security, Medicare, education, defense, highways, airports, home loans, social programs, foreign aid or any other programs. America as we know it will cease to exist. Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent or you don’t vote, it doesn’t matter because we are all on the same sinking ship.

The national debt is a nonpartisan issue that must be addressed starting this year. Under our Constitution it is Congress that is responsible for the appropriation of federal funds by developing and passing an annual appropriations bill. The last time Congress passed a balanced budget was in 2001. Since then they have simply been jacking up the national debt to cover their failure to balance the budget.

Although folks like to blame past and present presidents for the budget crisis, it is Congress that has the lead and primary responsibility to solve this problem.

You may not like what our current president is doing, but he is a businessman that understands the looming financial disaster. The DOGE team is simply identifying wasteful spending and trying to trim the bloated bureaucracy which led to our National Debt crisis. Ultimately, it is Congress that must address these wasteful spending habits.

It is time to set aside our political and personal differences along with all the nonproductive political rhetoric. It is time to insist that Congress become fiscally responsible and create a balanced budget that includes a plan to pay down the National Debt. Without such a plan, our children’s future and our entire country are at grave risk.

David R. Eberle is a retired concerned citizen and Homer resident.