Fixing the National Debt: ‘Time to Shrink the Monster’

A new video by Bankrupting America uses humor to call attention to an issue that is anything but funny, and why it matters for every American household.

I have said this before, but there is a noticeable change at the Heritage Foundation since former Senator Jim Demint R-SC, became president of the conservative think tank. Many of Demint’s fans do not know it, but his background is in marketing, messaging, and sales. Republicans, aside from hypocrisy, have a consistent problem discussing policy in cold calculated terms. If we learned anything from the 2012 election, it is that speaking to the head only instead of the heart loses elections.

This line of thinking has clearly taken hold at Heritage under Demint’s leadership. Fixing the national debt is a perfect example of this dynamic. The debt is no-less than a threat to our personal and national liberty, yet cold terms do not alarm the average American citizen to the point of action.

In this new video, they use humor and describe how and why all Americans must care about the national debt.

Recent Heritage research reveals how the rising national debt hurts American families, including:

• Higher interest rates on mortgages, car loans, and other loans make it more costly for families and businesses to borrow money.

• Higher debt and higher interest rates mean more tax dollars must be used to pay the government’s interest expense, leaving less money available for other priorities like national security and making it harder to keep future taxes from rising.

• Less economic growth means fewer jobs, lower wages and salaries, and fewer opportunities for career advancement.

Over the next few weeks, Members of Congress will be deciding what their priorities for spending reduction will be in connection with any vote to increase the debt ceiling sometime this fall. The debt ceiling vote likely presents the best opportunity for real spending restraint this year.

Anyone following the shocking IRS scandal has fresh and frightening evidence of the dangers of a massive, over-reaching, highly intrusive federal government. This is yet another reason to cut spending: Washington has a problem respecting fiscal sense and citizens’ freedoms.