Let’s stop ignoring America’s huge deficit — and start taking the steps to address it

During the past two weeks we heard a lot of talk at the Republican and Democratic national conventions; pick most any topic and chances are we heard a conversation on it.

We heard plenty about who’s to blame.

And we heard plenty about what is wrong, and how our team would be better than your team at fixing it.

Yet there was deafening silence when it came to our nation’s spending, deficits and accumulating debt.

No discussion

But this is upside down.

Paying for all of the political promises that are made at conventions — and ultimately the ideas and financial commitments that work their way through the halls of Congress — is one of the most basic responsibilities of our federal government.

In fact, paying for government is the one and only thing that Congress has to do every year.

Our present course is setting us up for a situation wherein Congress won’t be able to pay the bills.

And we’re not even talking about it.

As a country we are trying a financial experiment and approach with debt and deficits that has never worked before in the history of man. It could work, but history says it won’t work.

And being wrong on this one has enormous consequences for all of us — as well as for children, our country and our way of life.

We must act

Washington is indeed trying something new on finances — and given that it has the capacity to turn our lives upside down, don’t you think that talking about it in earnest might be a good idea?

It’s for this reason that a number of us have started Americans for Debt and Deficit Reduction.

This not-for-profit and nonpartisan organization is committed to educating the public on the importance of this issue, and I hope you will be a part of it.

Please join us.

This issue is about more than our savings, jobs and economy. It’s also about the future health of our republic, and that’s why it warrants your involvement.

To learn more visit www.afddr.org.

Mark Sanford represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 and 2013 to 2019. He served as governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011.

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Let’s stop ignoring America’s huge deficit — and start taking the steps to address it."