Debt Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Many things are worth passing on to the next generation, but the federal debt should not be among our legacy for the future of this country.

New data from the Congressional Budget Office measures the share of federal debt per person in the U.S. in the recent past, the present and the future. It is stark and startling, but in a single generation the figure is set to triple.

In 2008, each American's share of the federal debt was $35,000. Today, only four years later, it is $50,000. In 2037, every American will be $147,000 in debt as a result of reckless spending, runaway programs and the inability of policymakers to come up with smart solutions today so we can avoid tough choices tomorrow.

And the numbers get bigger against the backdrop of American households, rather than individual citizens: in 2037, every family will bear $382,000 of federal debt -- just 25 years from today.

Imagine those figures next time you drive down the street in your neighborhood. Every house you count represents $95,000 in federal debt today. Every five driveways you pass is $500,000 today... and nearly $2 million in 25 years. In a Missouri city with a population of 1,000 people, the total represents $50 million of federal debt.

Stopping the accumulation of this massive debt depends on two things: the revenues the government takes in and the expenditures the government pays out. Both can be part of the solution.

On the revenue side, economic growth can make a substantial contribution to the federal balance sheet. We should invest in job-creating policies and refrain from regulations that slow growth and kill jobs. Tax fairness is important, too, to prevent fraud and to promote a level playing field for all Americans.

On the spending side, there is even more room for progress. By looking at the tax dollars we spent yesterday, today and tomorrow, we can reduce future federal deficits. I wrote legislation, for example, that trims $2 billion from the President's budget for the Treasury, the IRS, GSA and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2013. I'll fight to get that significant reduction enacted into law. If we win this argument in Congress and with the White House, we will have cut more than 12 percent in this area of federal spending since 2010.

And we have to assess the long-term health of federal programs for the possible reforms that not only save tax dollars, but keep important benefits alive and intact for the next generation. When the trustees of programs like Medicare and Social Security say they are going broke, we have to pay attention. One side wants to pay for these programs with higher taxes, and the other side wants to find reforms that extend them for future generations without changing terms or benefits for Americans drawing on them today.

Because if we anticipate our children's shares of the federal debt to triple in one generation -- and we do -- then we must be mindful of the legacy they can expect to leave their children, our grandchildren, in the generation after that.