As of last week, the U.S. government is $8,248,646,921,952.35 in debt-about 175 times the net worth of Bill Gates.
A panel of experts discussed America's budget imbalance Monday night, agreeing that the federal deficit needs to be shrunk.
The panel featured four experts from diverse political backgrounds, including David Walker, the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, Stuart Butler, vice president of domestic and economic policy for the conservative Heritage Foundation, Diane Rogers, a member of the liberal Brookings Institution, and Robert Bixby, executive director of the nonpartisan Concord Coalition.
The four discussed the debt facing the government and what they called a lack of care among the nation's leadership.
Bixby said the national debt has been an issue for decades that has been largely ignored by the federal government and American citizens.
"America's long-term fiscal status poses a threat to our living standards, and we are trying to get that message out," he said. "Sometimes when the alarm goes off, you want to ignore it. It's time to wake up."
Bixby said the government in 2005 spent $2.47 trillion but only earned $2.15 trillion in revenue-creating a deficit of $319 billion. He also pointed out that more than 50 percent of this spending is mandatory because it has already been signed into law by previous Congresses.
Walker said the "facts speak loudly" about the poor budget management by lawmakers.
He said the federal government must raise taxes and impose stricter budget controls to try and repair the grim situation, rather than do nothing.
"Ignoring the problem is an unacceptable path to take, but it is the path we are currently on," Walker said. "The status quo is not an option. Making tough choices will not be popular, but doing nothing will threaten our future."
Walker's concerns were echoed by Butler, who said the main programs that created the deficits were large government welfare programs.
"Social security, medicare and medicaid represent 9 percent of the GDP currently," Butler said. "As baby boomers retire, this will triple over the next 50 years. Just these three programs will overtake all tax revenue by 2050."
Butler said cuts in these programs would be politically controversial but economically necessary.
Rogers, who was a former economic advisor for Congress, said she saw the partisan politics first-hand during her time in the Capitol. She recently left Congress to join the Brookings Institute.
"I've come to the conclusion that partisanship has gotten so bad that I don't think tough choices can be made without the public making these issues popular," Rogers said.
She pointed to the 2005 deficit Reduction Bill as an example of poor federal efforts to reduce the deficit. The bill, passed in January, cuts about 2 percent of the total deficit over the next five years, she said.
The panel was sponsored by the Duke Political Union. DPU President Andrew Nowobilski, a junior, said the event was a success.
"They made it clear that this is a big political issue that should be front row-not in a seat behind [other issues such as] abortion or war," Nowobilski said. "This is something that our generation should be paying much more attention to."
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