With the presidential campaign in full swing, the size of the national debt and what to do about it is once again the topic of considerable political discussion — some of it heated. The first time the federal government went into debt was this week in 1789, when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton arranged to borrow nearly $192,000 from the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America. The money was needed to pay the salaries of President Washington and the members of the first Congress. The loan was paid off in less than a year. Today, the president’s salary is $400,000 a year — more than twice the first loan young America took out — and the national debt is measured in trillions of dollars. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
One Comment
Comments are closed.
In other words, we’ve always had to borrow money to afford our elected officials. The presidential salary doesn’t sound so great compared to corporate executive incomes and bonuses but it sounds fantastic to those of us who never reached the $25,000 a year level. Those of us who have retired after a lifetime of hard work at minimum wage are barely able to afford life. Still, we pay for our medicare out of our meager rations while our retired leaders receive full compensation, having paid nothing into the system during their privileged, well financed ‘service’ to the American people. Not one unlanded, poor person had input into our constitution. Not one unlanded, poor person could even vote. I’d sure like to see an unbiased study of the high end entitlements compared to the low end entitlements. I’d really like to know where our priorities are. How in the world are our desk jockies more valuable than our trash collectors? You can say that the desk jockies have more education, perhaps, but do they perform any more important jobs than the servants who make their lives more pleasant? What would the golf course be like without the grounds keepers?