When it comes to elections, most high schoolers don’t pay much attention. With Chemistry labs to finish, English papers to write, and History tests to study for, their lives are far too busy to care about things like the Presidential election—that’s for the adults to worry about. It’s not like high schoolers are truly affected by the results.
But this Presidential election affects high schoolers more than they might imagine. All high schoolers hope to have a job one day–that’s why they go to school. If someone works, then there is no doubt they will have to pay taxes. And, if things don’t change very soon, a large amount of the money they will be paying in taxes will be for the national debt today’s politicians are racking up.
The US government borrows money when the revenues they receive from taxes and other fees is less than the amount of money it needs to fund all of its programs. In order to pay for everything, the US government borrows money, and therefore goes into debt.
The national debt is the total amount of money the US has borrowed, plus the interest rate it has to pay on the borrowed money.
Four years ago, the US national debt was about $10.6 trillion. On September 4th of this year, it officially reached $16 trillion.
This debt must be paid by the American public. According to the national debt clock, each person currently owes a bit more than $50,000.
To put that into perspective, $50,000 is a little more than the cost of two base model Toyota Camrys. That’s the amount of money every US citizen owes; man, woman and child. Without things changing, in 20 years it will be much higher.
The Heritage Foundation, predicts that if the debt continues to increase at the current rate every citizen will owe $135,547 in 2036.
By the time the current 7th graders are 37, everyone will own the equivalent of a little more than 5 1/2 Camrys of national debt.
Slowing down or stopping the growth of the national debt is a high priority for both candidates.
To stop the increasing debt, or at least slow its growth, the US needs to borrow less money. In order for the government to stop borrowing money, its revenues must increase or its spending must decrease .
Both candidates agree that improving the economy is key to decreasing the national debt.
Though they agree that the economy needs to be improved, the two candidates disagree on how to actually accomplish that task.
Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, says the key lies in cutting taxes, pointing out the burden Obama’s taxes have put on the people.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, this Obama economy has crushed the middle class. Family income has fallen by $4,000, but health insurance premiums are higher. Food prices are higher. Utility bills are higher, and gasoline prices, they’ve doubled. Nearly one out of six Americans are living in poverty,” said Romney at the Republican National Convention. “[The President’s] plan to put taxes on small businesses won’t add jobs. It will eliminate them.”
Increased business taxes mean that businesses are less likely to invest and grow their companies. That’s why Governor Romney believes cutting taxes will improve the economy.
President Obama proposes raising taxes on the wealthy.
“Now, I’ve cut taxes for those who need it, middle-class families, small businesses. But I don’t believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our deficit. I don’t believe that firing teachers or kicking students off financial aid will grow the economy, or help us compete with the scientists and engineers coming out of China,” he said during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The President believes that raising taxes on higher-income families will create more jobs.
“I want to reform the tax code so that it’s simple, fair, and asks the wealthiest households to pay higher taxes on incomes over $250,000, the same rate we had when Bill Clinton was president; the same rate we had when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest surplus in history, and a whole lot of millionaires to boot,” he said at the Democratic Convention.
The reason President Obama believes raising taxes on the wealthy will work is because he believes that will increase government revenues. This will decrease the amount of money they need to borrow to cover all the programs the government sponsors without placing a burden on the middle-class and poor families.
There’s another way to reduce the deficit: it’s for the government to spend less money.
Governor Romney wants to cut 500 billion dollars from what the government would otherwise spend over the next five years. President Obama has no plan to spend less. In effect, the government is spending the next generation’s money now; it is borrowing money to support spending today and handing the bill to young people.
The outcome of this election, though, could change that; or, it could make things worse. But make no mistake: this election affects high schoolers as much, if not more, than current adults.
