Letter: Support candidates committed to eliminate deficit spending

The majority of politicians will not acknowledge, discuss or even recognize the following economic facts:

-- The U.S. Treasury debt now totals $9.192 trillion (nine thousand billion) which the U.S. Congress and administrations have accumulated.

-- The actual congressional deficit spending for the past year is $512.4 billion, which exceeds substantially the deficit of $250 billion that the politicians publicize for this fiscal year.

-- The U.S. Congress spends and the U.S. Treasury borrows all the yearly surplus receipts from the Social Security and Medicare Trust funds.

-- This "borrowing" papers over their deficit spending thanks to the so-called unified budget passed by Congress and the Johnson administration in the 1960s.

-- The Social Security and Medicare Trust funds now contain over $2 trillion of congressional IOUs.

-- The U.S. Treasury makes a bookkeeping entry to the trust funds -- $100 billion this past year -- for the interest on these IOUs and magically the yearly interest cost has been paid -- by more debt.

-- The power of compound interest is exploding this $9.102 trillion debt and the economic consequence will be devastating.

When was the last time you voted for a candidate who was committed to eliminate deficit spending?

Cliff Peterson

Park Rapids