“A public debt is a public curse.”
That’s how James Madison put it, and he was right. Today, America is absolutely drowning in debt – and teetering on the brink. We’ve just hit a new, previously unthinkable milestone: a national debt of $35 trillion.
We have plenty of warnings from the founders and old revolutionaries (although not all of them!) about the dangers of perpetual debt. As long as the people keep ignoring them, that “public curse” is just going to keep getting worse.
It’s hard even to fathom this much debt. To put it in perspective, every American citizen would have to write a check for $103,834 to pay it off. If we limit the funding to taxpayers, your share would be $267,404!
John Adams, in a letter to Abigail Adams, noted the danger of this kind of situation:
“I lament the introduction of Taxes and Expenses which will accumulate a perpetual Debt, and lead to future Revolutions.”
If you think about all the unconstitutional federal acts, regulations and programs we live under today, this has been in some ways, a counter-revolution that has flipped the entire constitutional system on its head.
In a letter to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson also took the position that a perpetual debt was actually a tool to establish a system of centralized power – like the monarchy the revolutionaries fought a long, bloody war to secede from.
“That the ultimate object of all this is to prepare the way for a change, from the present republican form of government, to that of a monarchy, of which the English constitution is to be the model. That this was contemplated in the Convention, is no secret, because it’s partisans have made none of it. To effect it then was impracticable; but they are still eager after their object, and are predisposing every thing for it’s ultimate attainment.”
Beyond being a tool to empower despotism, the debt also acts as a threat to national security. John Taylor wrote, “Hence it is obvious, that debt, so far from being either strength or credit, is a diminution of both; and that freedom from debt, is the only genuine source of national strength depending on revenue.”
This was similar to Pres. Washington’s warning about the national debt as a threat to our security:
“As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace” [emphasis added]
Now, of course, that doesn’t mean founders like Washington were opposed to having a debt, as they recognized it could be needed, but paying it promptly off was essential.
Washington continued, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it”
Continuing along these lines, Washington emphasized this view – keep spending to a minimum – so you have the ability to take on debt when you need it, and have the ability to pay it off quickly. Additionally, it was a moral imperative to reject the idea of saddling future generations with the costs of your own spending and debt:
“Avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.”
While founders like Washington recognized the occasional need for debt, they repeatedly emphasized its timely repayment. In his Fifth Annual Message to Congress, he put it like this:
“No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable.”
Of course, not everyone in the founding generation agreed with this approach. Alexander Hamilton, for one, felt that a national debt was a “national blessing,” with the caveat that it wasn’t excessive. He also felt it was a tool to perpetuate taxation:
“A national debt if it is not excessive will be to us a national blessing; it will be powerfull cement of our union. It will also create a necessity for keeping up taxation to a degree which without being oppressive, will be a spur to industry”
Thomas Jefferson noted this kind of view in another letter to Pres. Washington:
“This exactly marks the difference between Colo. Hamilton’s views and mine, that I would wish the debt paid tomorrow; he wishes it never to be paid, but always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt and manage the legislature.” [emphasis added]
These days, there is so much spending and debt that just the interest payments threaten to overwhelm the federal budget – an incredibly dangerous situation.
As Mike Maharrey reports, “so far in fiscal 2024 (as of June 30), the federal government paid $867.7 billion in interest expense.” That means the federal government has spent more on interest than it has on national defense ($644 billion) or Medicare ($629 billion). The only spending category bigger than interest is Social Security.”
As Francis Corbin warned in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, this is leading towards the point of no return:
“Borrow money to discharge the interest of what was borrowed, and continually augment the amount of the public debt! Such a plan would destroy the richest country on earth.” [emphasis added]
The anti-federalist writer Brutus seems to have predicted just what we’re living under today:
“Under this authority, the Congress may mortgage any or all the revenues of the union, as a fund to loan money upon, and it is probably, in this way, they may borrow of foreign nations, a principal sum, the interest of which will be equal to the annual revenues of the country. — By this means, they may create a national debt, so large, as to exceed the ability of the country ever to sink.”
This, of course, was for Brutus – a doomsday scenario:
“I can scarcely contemplate a greater calamity that could befal this country, than to be loaded with a debt exceeding their ability ever to discharge.”
If things aren’t already there, they sure are close.
- Five Critical Reminders About Liberty and Security from the Founders - September 11, 2024
- The Treaty of Paris: How the War for Independence Almost Didn’t End - September 4, 2024
- Before Lexington and Concord: The British Gun Grab That Nearly Sparked the Revolution - September 1, 2024