First, lets take care of some vocabulary. The deficit is the fiscal year
difference between what the Government takes in from taxes and other
revenues, and the amount of money the Government spends. Think of the total
debt as deficits plus accumulated surpluses.

Deficits require the Treasury to borrow money to raise cash needed to keep
the Government operating. Money is borrowed by selling Treasury securities
like T-bills, notes, bonds and savings bonds.

"We are putting our children in debt. It must be stopped." These are the
vigorous words heard from politicians of all stripes when talking about the
national debt and the budget deficit. The problem is that one person's pork
is another's bacon - or possibly bread and butter.

In the not too distant past, there was a bitter contest over the Federal
budget. It triggered a deep concern over the rocketing growth of our
astronomical national debt. In the late '90's the news was filled with
reports of the Titanic clashes between the Congress and President Clinton
over the Federal budget. This fierce confrontation even resulted in the
laughable-if-it-wasn't-so-sad shutdown of non-essential Federal services.
Only bit of fast thinking at the helm combined with some legerdemain from
Robert Rubin kept the U.S. financially afloat and saved us from the
embarrassment and complications of international default on Federal debts.
We seem to have gotten complacent since then. Today over $1,000 in taxes
per year must be collected for every man, woman and child in the United
States simply to pay the interest on the national debt. All other Federal
activities have a hard time competing with the line item for Federal debt
service.

The public debt is currently growing at nearly a billion dollars a day! That
is thousands of dollars per second! It's nearly inconceivable. Try blinking
your eyes. There went $5,000-$10,000.

It may seem as if the national debt is a nebulous topic with little impact
on you, your family or your place of employment. You may have faith in the
elected officials you have put into office to watch over just such issues.
Many people feel that their one voice is too small to make any real
difference. Not true.

Here is an example of how it affects you: About 25 cents out of every
dollar of total tax revenue collected is immediately wolfed down by the
hideous interest on the Federal debt. You don't "get" anything for the first
25% of your tax assessment. Picture a teen gone wild with the family credit
card. It's all fun and games until the family struggles to keep up with
minimum payments and the interest that keeps growing like some monster from
an old "B" movie.

A substantial amount of money simply vanishes from constructive use. It
cannot be re-invested in the economy in any way. You certainly cannot
invest it to secure your future. No company will experience the opportunity
to grow and create jobs because of your investment. You cannot spend it and
thereby directly stimulate the economy. Twenty-five percent of your tax
assessment is jettisoned into the black hole of Federal debt service.

Some of your neighbors and even some multi-national companies or foreign
governments can be recipients of these interest payments. They may put
these funds back into our economy by purchasing goods and services. But for
the most part, a substantial portion of the average American family income
is evaporating under the hot sun of the interest on this "family debt".
And on this farm we have some pigs. Ee I Ee I Oh. Their names are
Duplicative, Outdated, and Wasteful. We can pen them up and keep them from
running wild and taking over the farm and the entire neighborhood. By
getting these three unruly critters under control, we can reduce the Federal
debt! When that happens, everybody wins.

Our hope for a stable financial future for this country currently resides
within Senate bill S. 837, introduced by Senator Sam Brownback, and
subsequently in the House as H.R.3213 by Representative Todd Tiahrt. Based
On the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) model, and known as the
Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act (CARFA),
the bills have as their purpose: "to establish a commission to conduct a
comprehensive review of federal agencies and programs and to recommend the
elimination or realignment of duplicative, wasteful, or outdated
functions..."

By forcing Congress to vote up-or-down on a commission's recommendations in
their entirety, the congressional log-rolling that normally protects
spending and waste can be short-circuited. Real reform can emerge, and the
deficit and debt problems can be brought under control. S. 837 and H.R.3213
offer Congress and the Administration a viable political penning solution
for the three pigs of the apocalypse.

Senator Brownback is working to get a vote on the bill for early next year.
It would be great to see a sub-committee and a hearing soon -- before the
November adjournment.

This is a project that deserves enthusiastic support. Co-sponsors to a bill
are critically important to its passage. Senators Dole (R - NC), Bond (R -
MO), Shelby (R - AL) and Coleman (R - MN) are likely to sign on when they
realize how important CARFA is to the grassroots.

In the House, Congressman Burton (R - IN), Davis (R -VA), Schrock (R -VA),
Ryun (R - KS), Pitts (R - PA) and DeLay (R -TX) wouldn't suffer from a
little encouragement.

Every voice counts.

The national debt affects you in more ways than you may realize, and there
is more that you can do about it than you may be giving yourself credit for.
CARFA offers a reasonable first step to curb runaway Federal spending.

Jill S. Farrell is Director of Communications for the Free Congress
Foundation.

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The Debt To The Penny

10/20/2003 $6,834,248,759,903.16
10/16/2003 $6,830,709,313,106.40
10/14/2003 $6,816,232,489,123.39