This article was originally published on March 1st, 2020.
The students of today are faced with a pressing issue concerning steep national debt former candidate for US Senate in Wyoming, spoke with the Chinook about the issue. Dodson said there is a lack of transparency in politics today, and actual monetary figures are often inaccurately reported in the media. National debt continues to increase behind closed doors and will quickly come back to impact the younger generation’s pocketbooks soon, according to Dodson. He stressed that the national debt could prove to be a major problem in not only with the functions of the U.S. government but also in terms of the economy and the lives of regular people. Some of these issues are greatly out of the hands of the general public. However, the public can impact many of the major issues. Dodson outlined how the younger generation can make a change.
The national the debt is sitting at as quoted by various media sources, 23 trillion dollars. Unfortunately, Dodson said the number is “an invention of U.S. politics.” The actual number, which must be released by the Treasury Department monthly, is closer to a shocking 70 trillion dollars, according to Dodson. That’s an additional 47 trillion dollars! The January 2020 report shows trillions of authorized obligations that the government completed off the radar and off the books. Dodson said the government’s spending is unsettling and in need of immediate attention.
“You know you’re being lied to by the government?” Dodson questioned. “The people must recognize that the government is lying to the public.”
For many, the national debt is already known and demonstrated by movements of current leaders. The severity of the issue is clear, and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions, said Dodson.
Dodson mentioned that politicians are “kicking the can down the alley” for the next generation. In other words, the national debt is at a shocking 70 trillion dollars and growing with little to no attention in the media. Putting people in the dark leaves the politicians with the power to continue with their ways. Dodson predicted that politicians will eventually pass the mess down and leave the next generations to pay for their retirement and their debt. He said if reform is not found soon though, the results do not look promising.
As former U.S. senator Alan Simpson put it and Dodson quoted, unless we make some changes, the next generation will be left “sucking canal water.”
“If we don’t make changes soon, a new politician is going to come along and want to fix it (through taxation),” said Dodson.
Dodson explained that the upcoming generations will be faced with rising taxes in an effort to reduce the numbers the last generations “kicked down the alley.” He said the middle class will take the brunt of the taxation, and he suggests the structure of social security should change so the upper class is forced to pay more towards retirement.
Voting is the key for holding politicians accountable to plan for a more sustainable future economy, according to Dodson. He said Wyoming contains an impressive 32,000 people in college, and about 100,000 people are registered voters in Wyoming. If Wyoming students want to, they can sway the elections greatly enough to, as Mr. Dodson put it “call the shots.” Essentially, students have the power to help build a sustainable economy by voting for change.
that could easily burn out of control. David Dodson, Stanford lecturer and