US debt limit will hit $14,294 trillion on May 16

It’s almost inconceivable—how can more than $14 trillion not be enough to operate the federal government? What’s worse—a deadline looms and leftist Democrats in Washington apparently are unconcerned about a day of reckoning that will surely come.

Dow Jones Newswires said on Wednesday, “Treasury officials last month flagged May 16 as the day the government would hit the $14.294 trillion debt limit.”

President Barack Obama doesn’t appear to be concerned—he’s relying on the tried and true—just raise taxes. The Heritage Foundation said, “President Obama recently unveiled his 2012 budget proposal and the 43 tax hikes it contains. The multitude of—utterly unnecessary—tax hikes will burden Americans to the tune of $1.5 trillion over the next decade. The President is proposing to raise federal tax revenues and federal spending as a percentage of GDP above historic levels, and keep them growing.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) doesn’t buy the idea of tax hikes—no one who has the best interests of the U.S. at heart would buy into that idea in my opinion. Boehner said in a statement that everything is on the table – except tax hikes, because “[t]he mere threat of tax hikes causes uncertainty for job creators -- uncertainty that results in less risk-taking and fewer jobs.”

Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) have put forth specific plans to address entitlements.

There is at the heart of the debate a purely ideological issue—big central government vs. small central government. Bureaucrats and politicians have expanded the central government far beyond its purpose, to a point where the federal government controls much of healthcare (Medicare and Medicaid), housing (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), the auto industry and energy.

To make matters worse, instead of thinning federal employee rosters via  attrition, the Obama administration grew those rosters and the US taxpayer is on the hook for numerous perks, pensions and healthcare for federal employees for many years into the future.

What has all that central government expansion brought us? Inflation, a housing meltdown and a healthcare sector dominated by bureaucrats. Our healthcare is the government’s business now because the government is on the hook for providing funds for medical care. That is a dangerous signal to anyone who loves freedom.

The real answer to the US debt problem, or for that matter, to a central government whose obesity level is off the fiscal BMI chart completely, is to push for real government reform with the goal of gradually dissolving any agency that functions outside the boundaries of federal powers limited by the US Constitution.

Until we approach government reform from a holistic perspective, we will continue to argue about US debt and spending. The debt limit the US hits on May 16 should be a wakeup call to every American. Our treasury and our personal wealth are being looted.

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(Commentary by Kay B. Day/May 12, 2011)

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