Dear editor:
If you’re like me, you have most likely seen or heard that government should operate like a business and should not spend money it does not have. Well, having worked in the financial end of corporations, both large and small, I can personally attest to the fact that none of them live within their means. After the crash of 2008, we heard all the time that small business was hurting because it could not borrow money. Well, large corporations do that as well, like Apple, for instance, borrowed billions recently, as do other large corporations.
Even on a more personal level, people in general do not live within their means. The vast majority do not buy homes for cash, or even cars, they are financed. People have credit cards, so they charge things when they are short of cash. Even many state governments that have to balance their budgets by law borrow by issuing bonds to raise money. Either way, it is borrowed money, so the argument that our federal government should never spend more than it takes in is ridiculous and is not factual.
The way the Federal Reserve system is set up, we will always have debt. Federal debt is savings for someone else, because we sell Treasury bonds, so the higher our national debt, the more people have in savings and investment in the United States. I know it all sounds good when you hear a politician say these things, but please people think first, then vote.
Judith Zitko
Hot Springs Village