“I can scarcely contemplate a greater calamity that could befall this country, than to be loaded with a debt exceeding their ability ever to discharge.”
The anti-federalist writer Brutus warned us, and here we are.
Year after year, the debt keeps ramping up. The federal government is adding trillions upon trillions to the debt. It never ends.
Meanwhile, interest expense has grown into the second-largest spending category for the U.S. government, only behind Social Security.
So it’s no surprise why James Madison called a public debt a “public curse.”
Whatever you call it – it’s unsustainable.
It’s not that debt – in and of itself – is necessarily bad, but George Washington argued the country’s credit should be carefully guarded for the sake of national security.
“As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit.”
And how do we do that?
“One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible.”
The strategy today seems to be the exact opposite – borrow and spend as much as possible.
No matter which party is in power, the debt grows. In 1995, the debt was just under $5 trillion. By 2010, it had grown to $13.6 trillion. Just 10 years later, it stood at $26.9 trillion. In that time span, not one president left office with a smaller national debt than when he came in.
You might think that given the critical nature of the situation, it might start getting better. It’s not. The accumulation of debt is accelerating.
Here at the TAC, we’re working tirelessly to oppose the size of the federal behemoth. A constitutionally-limited government doesn’t need trillions in debt. Not even close. And it’s going to take a lot of work to reach more people with this essential truth. But we can’t do this work alone. We need your help!
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Some people will tell you this is a revenue problem – as in government isn’t stealing (aka taxing) us enough.
They’re wrong
Federal revenues have grown at a healthy pace for years. What we have is a spending problem. Or more simply put – a government problem.
A lot of people imagine a big government means great strength, but John Taylor of Caroline said that it is “obvious” that a big government sustained by debt is neither “strength nor credit.” It is “a diminution of both.”
“Freedom from debt, is the only genuine source of national strength depending on revenue.”
Spiraling debt results in the exact opposite situation – national weakness. In fact, Thomas Jefferson argued, “There does not exist an engine so corruptive of the government and so demoralizing of the nation as a public debt.”
And he warned what would happen in a country buried in debt.
“It will bring on us more ruin at home than all the enemies from abroad against whom this army and navy are to protect us.”
- The Debt is a National Security Threat - April 2, 2026
- Ignorance and Freedom Cannot Coexist - March 19, 2026
- The Federal Government is Not the Boss - March 8, 2026