February 13, 2014
Read time : 5 min

The United States Federal Debt is now over $17.3 Trillion dollars and rising every single day. So, what does that mean for you?

Well, the federal government raises revenue to pay for all of its expenditures and social programs by charging working Americans taxes. When the government does not collect enough taxes, it has to borrow money.

As the amount of debt that the United States takes on increases, so does the amount of interest that we have to pay on that debt. Interest rates are already on the rise and are set to rise gradually over the next couple of decades. Aaron Mendez, CSUF Up To Us Team Leader, says “it is projected that interest payments on U.S. Federal Debt will surpass 640 billion annually by the year 2020.” Point being that more and more of our tax dollars will be going to pay our ever increasing interest payments.

Not only that, but the Tax Foundation says that taxpayers over 45 now pay 70 percent of all income taxes. Soon enough we will begin to see this baby boomer generation slide into retirement, and the growing debt burden will ultimately fall on the shoulders of younger generations.

The government will have no option, but to continue taking on more debt. Even more worrisome, you will see the government having to resort to raising tax rates. As students graduate and enter the workforce, we will see the tax rate that we pay, rise. We will all have to pay more money out of our pockets to cover the governments out-of-control spending and the interest payments on U.S. debt.

Of course government programs like healthcare, social security and defense are important, and we all benefit in one way or another from them. However, the federal government has been fiscally irresponsible for too long, and you know who will have to pay for it? We will. CSUF Up To Us has come to realize that many students don’t really know how the federal debt affects them. “They should know that just being involved, educating themselves, showing that they’re interested in this it does make a big change.. it changes that mindset and that attitude, because in ten years we are going to be the ones running this country,” Bita Kianian said.

The U.S. federal debt is a serious economic issue, and for CSUF, our efforts have come naturally. Shervin Taheri, CSUF Up To Us Ambassador and economics major, says “I thought this was a great opportunity to actually put (my knowledge) into effect.” Stop the federal debt, and stand up against the government’s fiscal irresponsibility.

To learn how you can make a difference, please visit facebook.com/itsuptous.org

And if you’re a Cal State Fullerton student, CSUF Up To Us welcomes you to join us for our concluding Up To Us Rally in the Central Quad on Wednesday, February 19th @ 11:00a.m. Come learn about federal debt, how it affects you and what you can do about it.