Once you start talking about trillions of dollars, it becomes
difficult to visualize the debt's real impact. And when you
throw in the fact that the problem develops over time, it’s even
more difficult to see how it affects you personally. But the key
point is that if absolutely nothing was done and we let
Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, tax policy and the national
debt continue on their current track, the federal government
wouldn’t have enough money by 2040 to do anything but pay for
entitlements and interest. Experts point out several all-too-
real possibilities: - Deep budget cuts. If maintaining
entitlements take up all the money the government collects, than
everything else has to go – or at least get cut way, way back.
That means cutting the “discretionary” spending that includes a
lot of federal activity we really need, or at least would really
miss. The national parks, for example, or student loans and
medical research. (See the budget pie for other possibilities).
- Benefit cuts. If we’re not wi