Pay Me Now, Not Later

Pay Me Now, Not Later
By Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA)

The Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) newly released estimates regarding our federal budget deficit are alarming. By the end of this year, our deficit will reach a record $401 billion, not including the cost of funding military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is projected to be more than $480 billion by the end of 2004 again without the cost of war.

Just two short years ago our country was running surpluses in excess of $5.6 trillion. Now, our cumulative ten-year deficit totals over $3.3 trillion. That is a reversal of almost nine trillion dollars.

Right now, our national debt is $6.4 trillion. We pay one billion dollars a day in interest alone on that debt - a "debt tax" that translates into $2,500 per worker on an annual basis. In 2002, the average American worker made $26,267.
Under the tax bill we passed earlier this year, that worker will get a base tax cut of about $200.

Were we not paying one billion dollars a day in interest on our debt - we could afford a more meaningful and equitable tax cut. We could afford a comprehensive Medicare drug benefit, highway construction projects, or full funding of education reform.

We could afford any number of national priorities that are currently under-funded including our national security. But, to do that, we have to make balancing our budget our number one national priority.

We've all heard the phrase " pay me now or pay me later." Lately, we've been opting to pay later. With this latest round of numbers, CBO has sounded a loud alarm: Paying later is not going to work. Now is the time for Congress to hear and - more importantly - to heed the warning. Our national credit card must be replaced with a pay-as-we-go discipline.