The National Debt. Does Anybody Care About It Anymore?

The official datasets provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury outline the rapid trajectory of the country's national deb

When I announced my candidacy for the United States House of Representatives back in October 2009, in my announcement speech, in the very first speech I delivered that campaign, the very first words out of my mouth were—”My name is Joe Walsh, I’m running for Congress, and I’m pissed off at both political parties for bankrupting future generations of Americans...”

I was off and running. I decided to run for Congress because I was pissed off about our national debt. And pissed off because neither party seemed to give a damn about it. During that campaign, I would often read a letter that a then 65-year-old man from Texas had written to his children and grandchildren, to be read by them when he passed away. The letter was an apology, an apology to his children and grandchildren from him and the rest of his generation for not having the courage to do anything about the debt and for then saddling them all with having to repay it. I always teared up a bit when I would read that letter at campaign events.

And you know what’s absolutely crazy about this? When I announced my candidacy in October of 2009, the national debt was $11.9 trillion. When I was sworn into Congress in January of 2011, the debt was $14.1 trillion. As I write this, the debt now stands at $39.86 trillion, and by the time you read this, the debt will be over $39.9 trillion. The numbers have changed dramatically, but what hasn’t changed in the past almost 17 years is that…….

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