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George Washington's Debt Crisis

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$19.3 trillion dollars, this is the amount of the United States’ national debt, but the overall figure is approximately $66 trillion dollars. Indeed, the next President has an abundance of problems to solve, but solving them requires money. Considering this, our Nation’s debt is the biggest issue our next president will have to resolve. So, how did we get so far into debt? Most people would start small, but not the United States of America. Our debt first surfaced during the Revolutionary War in 1776 when George Washington borrowed $75 million dollars to pay for the war and Its casualties(SPCR 2011). Even though it was promptly compensated for, this action started a trend of borrowing to govern. George Washington took the easy way out by printing more money and borrowing from himself. The government hadn’t yet begun to tax, so progress in paying back the money was slowed. So, more money was printed. This action wasn’t a concern until wars began to pile up. The consequence was that the U.S. began to accrue debt. Some blame George Washington for today’s debt crisis, some say it’s Alexander Hamilton’s fault, and some even blame President Obama; but, there isn’t one specific person to blame for our current debt crisis. …show more content…

Like an investment, the government puts money into society, hoping to get a more substantial amount of money back. But with unemployment low the government is investing money into society and the investments are not paying off. The unemployed (7.8 million people) can’t or won’t pay and middle class doesn’t make an effective salary. If a significant amount of people are not working that means the government is missing out on vital income tax. And the middle class alone can’t fight off the $19.3 trillion dollars of debt. Rich people, play a prime role in the crisis with the fact that they get taxed the least, but if their taxes were to increase it would make a make the most

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