US National Debt Surpasses $31 Trillion Gross federal public debt in the United States (in trillion US dollars)
gender, environmental, social, or so-called equity “justice.” Returning to basics, America — the idea and nation — was not founded on “group equity,” but individual liberty. Just glance again at the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, and why we fought a revolution. America was never about Marx- ism, fomenting divisions, having an all-powerful government tell us what to do, or anything other than a basic process — for assuring, through limited government, conditions under which all can take stock of their own God-given talents, embracing “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The key again is very simple — if the government is limited, the individual has room to thrive. Net-net, we are at an inflection point. While the data tells a compelling story, along with horrifying accounts of arrogant, misguided, often indif- ferent and immoral leaders dictating how we walk, talk, live, think, raise our children, and be “American,” the bigger point is simpler: the govern- ment must be limited. The good news is this understanding can empower correction; the bad news is time is running out. In a zero-sum game, more government means less liberty. Robert B. Charles Robert B. Charles served in the Reagan and Bush 41 White Houses, as Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, and counsel to the US House National Security subcommittee for five years; a former litigator, he taught law at Harvard University’s Extension School, recently authored “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and consults in Washington, DC.
falls; what you can buy with a dollar declines. Last year, the government pulled in $4.9 trillion but spent $7 trillion. Inflation is the result, trig- gering Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, raising the interest we must pay on runaway federal debt. See the vicious cycle? Other signs of federal growth and overreach are everywhere, from overregulation to forced cultural transformation. Slowly at first, but now with accelerating speed, we are losing control over the government’s growth — in dollars and power — forgetting that limited government assures freedom. On the regulation front, rules pushed out by the federal bureaucracy have
not only exploded in number, but in size, complexity, and intrusiveness, so now our kitchen stoves, refrigerators, and lawnmowers; how we manage streams, ponds, and puddles; what, where, and when we can eat, drink, sell, buy, and entertain; and recently, even whether and how we go to church, celebrate with family, and live life are regulated. Without citing chapter and verse, constitutional challenges — and thankfully a few were wins — confirm reality. Americans have begun to lose control over their federal govern- ment, a problem compounded by the rise of bureaucracy, media and social media power, and the influx of ideological contaminants, including Marxist teachings disguised as racial,
22 • AMAC Magazine
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