Debt Crisis Begs the Question: “Are We Citizens or Subjects?”

Paige Agostin / April 04, 2011

There are two sides to our federal debt crisis—an economic one and a civic one—and both demand attention. As lawmakers in Washington focus their attention on the budget, they would be wise to remember the policy objectives behind their necessary reforms. They must ask: Are we a nation of citizens or subjects?

America is at a tipping point. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, if left unchecked, will devastate our economy and cause irreparable damage to our way of life, all in just a few short years. Alison Fraser, Heritage’s Director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, has noted that “the public debt is closing in on 70 percent of the economy and within the decade will exceed the tipping point of 90 percent.” (more…)