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Our Country was born in blood, sweat and tears but also in, by and through debt. It was all Alexander Hamilton’s doing. He wanted the new federal government to assume and fund all of our nation’s debt from the Revolutionary War. There was grave doubt that it would be repaid otherwise, ruining American credit around the world. Hamilton believed that a national debt was a national blessing because it would unify Americans behind the new government. Americans would want the government to succeed because it would bring financial stability and provide the means for economic investments and growth. He won the day and his plans were approved by Congress, but could he ever imagine that we would one day be “blessed” by a 30+ trillion dollar debt?

The nonpartisan policy institute American Progress recently did a Hamilton-like deep dive into the causes of our debt. They concluded that without the Bush and Trump tax cuts, our debt as a percentage of our overall economy would actually be declining. Federal expenses are actually running below prior estimates, apart from the COVID-19 relief packages. The problem is that these unfair taxes give breaks to profitable corporations and the well off. The Trump tax cut was the only major piece of legislation passed by congress in his four years in office and it has contributed mightily to our national debt. Without the Bush/Trump tax cuts, the growth of our debt would be at or below the rate of growth of our overall economy. Because of these cuts, our debt is growing faster than our economy, creating a potential drag or disaster in the future. If Trump is elected again, and he convinces Congress to go along with him, his tax cuts, which are set to expire, will be made permanent, doing lasting damage to our economy with runaway inflation, job losses, higher interest rates, and losses in the stock market.

The great irony here is that historically Republicans have claimed to be the party that wants to reduce debt, but their policies are actually the ones that are increasing it. Trump added 7.8 trillion to the national debt during his four years (which includes 2.3 trillion for covid relief). His policies will account for 8.4 trillion in additional debt over 10 years. The only way to get a handle on this debt is to elect Kamala Harris to the office of President, Bob Casey to the Senate and Chrissy Houlahan to the House, so they can fight for a new tax law that will reverse the damage done by Republicans to our national debt. Vote Democrat to limit our debt and secure our country’s financial future. That is certainly something Mr. Hamilton would approve!