1. Proposal Argument: Debt: Is It a National Problem? Rafael Hohmann -Eng 2010 (click to continue)

2. This presentation will attempt to be interactive with the viewer. It will allow the viewer to choose for themselves the why's and how's of the subject- allowing them to see for themselves the importance of how debt can affect all of us negatively. National Debt: the total amount of money that a country's government has borrowed, by various means. According to the National Debt Clock on Brilling.com: Current Total Debt:$18,160,337,838,640.67 Debt Increase Per Day:$2.34 Billion Each American Citizen's Share of Debt (if Spread to All of us):$56,716.74 Is our Debt large? Yes Is it growing exponentially? Yes Choice: Should Our National Debt be Addressed First as Our Biggest Social Issue? (Prioritizing it above other issues) YESNO Have you ever worried about how much money you’re spending? Or have you ever been held back because of how much you have? -We all have It’s part of living in a world where everything costs something. But on a bigger scale that affects all of us- Have you ever worried about how much the government is spending or how much the government has?

3. Our society is filled with a variety of Social Issues that hold different levels of importance to each individual American. It's understandable that some would not view National Debt as a priority. Each of these issues affect us and affect other social issues. Can the National Debt affect all other social issues? American’s choice top social issues are: Transportation Reliable Energy Equality Protecting our Wildlife Climate Change Political Freedom Honest Government Good Education Discrimination Better Jobs Note that none of the top social issues talked about is Debt- are we just unaware or ignoring how much damage debt can cause? Americans are used to being in Debt. American Debt Advisor.com states that up to 80% of Americans are currently in Debt. Out of all those adults, half of them owe in the thousands. $$$ Could it be Americans aren't responding to the National Debt because they are so used to living in a world of owing money?

4. How Debt Affects other social issues According to USNews (http://money.usnews.com/money/personal- finance/articles/2011/03/31/how-the-national-debt-affects- you) The Debt affects interest rates and most importantly - the top social issue: the job market.http://money.usnews.com/money/personal- finance/articles/2011/03/31/how-the-national-debt-affects- you If Debt can affect the top social issue people worry over, doesn’t it mean the debt has power over it- making debt the biggest issue? What happens if the debt ceiling is breached? According to the New York News (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/what-happens-if- the-debt-ceiling-is-breached.html) it could be almost a doomsday scenario for America.http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/what-happens-if- the-debt-ceiling-is-breached.html The banks would collapse and we would have little to no money- what is left would be prioritized to things such as Medicare while other things would be left to rot. No one will worry about political freedom and discrimination when they can’t afford to buy bread. No one will complain about better transportation or better jobs when we can’t afford gas and the jobs we have can’t afford to keep us. View America’s ability to afford things and borrow money as our trump card on what makes us powerful. The American Dollar is the worlds standard currency. Euros, Yen, etc- all are backed by the dollar. $$$ If the base of our strength if broken, we collapse. What if we address the National Debt as a Priority?

5. Addressing the Debt According to money crashers.com (http://www.moneycrashers.com/how- fix-united-states-debt-problems/) there are two main ways to help fix the National Debt:http://www.moneycrashers.com/how- fix-united-states-debt-problems/ Increase of Federal Taxes: A proposition no one really likes to hear. Wait, I have to give more money to the government? In 2009 the government took in about $2.1 trillion dollars in taxes. This is a significant amount of income until you notice that government expenditures total almost $3.6 trillion. This led to a budget shortfall of about $1.5 trillion dollars. Making a continued increase of taxes a temporary solution- or in better terms, we’re only slowing the problem, not stopping it. Decrease of Entitlement Spending This involves capping a limit on how much the government can spend on their programs such as Social Security, Food stamps, and Medicare. We far out-spend on these programs than what the Government earns- which makes this the ‘Titan’ issue of our problem and what we need to fix the most. Ex: America spends around $80 Billion a year on food stamps but curiously enough this money is not monitored to see if it’s really being spent on food for people who actually need it. In other words, it’s a program that is being taken advantage of and not monitored closely enough. Ever heard the term ‘money going down the drain’? - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/24/top-secret- what-food-stamps-buy/?page=all http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/24/top-secret- what-food-stamps-buy/?page=all Proposition

6. Take the Pain! In Business Insider they state: ‘Closing the deficit is not just about lowering spending, relative to GDP, but also about increasing revenue from our very low levels…In almost any op-ed extolling the wisdom of the Simpson-Bowles plan, it's pointed out that we're going to need to take some pain. Obama has said that the Federal Government needs to tighten its belt, which is something that is painful. Conservatives say the government needs to go on a diet. Diets are painful. A recent USA Today headline was very standard: "Nation's soaring deficit calls for painful choices.“Nation's soaring deficit calls for painful choices Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/closing-the-deficit-is- painless-2012-12http://www.businessinsider.com/closing-the-deficit-is- painless-2012-12 Proposition: Painful Choices: If you not only lower the deficit, but increase the revenue, monitor spending, cap budget limits, and tighten regulations on people for programs such as food stamps –we will see a positive change in our debt. Yes, the choices will affect many people but all great things are forged with struggle. Americans hate pain, and when we have it we love to complain about it. But it would be better to take the pain now than have it doled out in a huge quantity later. Return to Beginning