If your house were on fire and your children were inside, you would not shrug and say that you are only one person and therefore powerless.
asserted
you → shrug → fire
You would run toward danger because the people you love were at risk and because waiting would be an act of surrender.
asserted
waiting → run → surrender
America is facing a different kind of fire.
asserted
America → face → fire
Some have heard warnings about the national debt for so long that they conclude nothing terrible ever happens.
asserted
nothing → hear → debt
Others believe a single voice cannot possibly matter.
uncertain
voice → believe → ?
Some do not think the problem is serious.
asserted
problem → think → ?
Others assume that because the United States remains the world’s strongest economy, nothing can bring us down.
asserted
nothing → assume → us
Those habits of mind ignore how different this moment is from anything we have faced before.
asserted
we → ignore → anything
The national debt has now surpassed $40 trillion, a sum so large it is almost impossible to hold in the mind and a burden of roughly $117,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.
asserted
it → surpass → country
The size of the number is daunting, but the direction of the path is what should keep us awake.
asserted
what → keep → us
The federal government continues to spend more than it collects, and deficits stretch into the multi-trillion-dollar range year after year with no end in sight.
asserted
deficits → continue → sight
Social Security and Medicare carry unfunded obligations measured in the tens of trillions, and there is no serious plan to close the gap.
asserted
Security → carry → gap
The trust funds will be exhausted in a few years, and current law would then force major benefit cuts.
asserted
law → exhaust → cuts
Interest costs already exceed $1 trillion a year and consume more than one fifth of total federal revenue, and that share is growing.
asserted
share → exceed → revenue
The Government Accountability Office says the federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path that poses serious economic, national security and societal challenges.
asserted
that → say → challenges
They are mathematical realities, and they make today unlike any earlier chapter in our history.
asserted
today → make → history
At some point, debt stops being an abstract figure in a government report and becomes a direct threat to the economy.
asserted
debt → stop → economy
Investors will eventually lose confidence and stop buying our debt at rates we can bear.
asserted
we → lose → rates
That is when the Ponzi structure collapses and a fiscal crisis arrives.
asserted
crisis → collapse → ?
We cannot wait for that day as if surprise will make the outcome more honorable.
asserted
outcome → wait → day
America’s greatest economic strength has always been its people, the men and women who work, save, invest, build businesses, raise families and solve hard problems.
asserted
who → work → problems
We inherited an extraordinary country from previous generations.
asserted
We → inherit → generations
We have a moral obligation to leave our children and grandchildren a country at least as strong as the one we received, not one that is bankrupt.
asserted
that → have → one
Getting government spending and deficits under control will mean restraint, entitlement reform, stronger growth and choices that some voters will dislike.
asserted
voters → get → that
Those choices still must be made while there is time, because the pain of discipline now is small next to the wreckage of a failed financial system, when savings shrink, credit dries up, businesses fail and even basic government promises will be harder to guarantee.
asserted
promises → make → system
The answer ultimately rests with "We the People."
asserted
answer → rest → We
Congress will not fix the problem because economists produce another report, or one president gives another speech, or because one political party suddenly discovers fiscal virtue.
asserted
party → fix → virtue
It will happen when the American people understand how serious the danger is and demand that Congress repair the mess it has created.
asserted
it → happen → mess
One citizen will not change Washington.
asserted
citizen → change → Washington
Millions of individual decisions can become a political force that Congress cannot ignore.
asserted
Congress → become → that
Once we recognize and accept that reality, we will act.
asserted
we → recognize → reality
The remaining question is whether we will act before the damage becomes irreversible.
asserted
damage → remain → ?
Our children and grandchildren are counting on us.
asserted
children → count → us
We should not leave them in a burning house.
asserted
We → leave → house
The Aporia
