Steve Chapman on Voters' Deluded Attitudes About Government Debt

The
gross U.S. government debt now stands at $17 trillion, more than
double what it was a decade ago. It’s still expanding, as the
Treasury Department pays out more than it takes in, and the
shortfall is expected to grow over the next decade. So it’s deeply
gratifying to learn that Americans are “highly concerned” about the
problem.

Americans do want Washington to bring the budget under control.
The catch is that they have no idea what it would take—and reject
the steps that would be needed, writes Steve Chapman. They want it
in the same way they want to be thin, rich and well informed: only
if the goal can be achieved with no effort.

Americans, in short, are willing to do anything to cut the
deficit and restrain the debt except what needs to be done. They
overwhelmingly prefer bogus remedies to real ones and magical
thinking to reality, according to Chapman.

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