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| The Debt Threat | An Endowment Fund For The Nation A Cure For The National Debt | |
| By
Gene Liss
Has our w.onderful nation exhausted itself being the financial, moral and military force of the world? We cannot seem to attend to more than one crisis at a time. Now it is Rodney King, Los Angeles and the state of race in America that occupies our total attention. But coming right up on the horizon are tremendous one-two economic punches. America really does not understand the scope and depth of the savings and loan scandal. Yet it alone is responsible for almost 20 percent of our total national debt, now fast approaching $4 trillion. Hard on the heels of the failed S&Ls and the bailout comes the mess being made of that by the Resolution Trust Corp., the entity charged with handling the assets and liabilities of the failed S&Ls so the books can be closed. The accounting and legal fees are so exorbitant as to amount to blatant plunder; insider trading of prime land and buildings is being angled toward wealthy speculators _ some the very individuals who benefited most from the bailout. This is often a case of their fat being rescued from the fire and the Resolution Trust Corp. now turning their loss into high profits. The
bailout, specifically aimed at extending federal insurance amounts
on As if the above were not bad enough there is the fact that here in mid-1992 our national debt has just caught and passed the projected deficit for 1997, arrived at just a little more than one year ago by the best minds in the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the offices of government economists. The interest on our national debt amounts to $5 billion weekly, and it is spiraling upward. Somehow, within the past decade, we have managed to increase national indebtedness by an incredible 600 percent. You cannot run a household, a business or a country that way, But you can ruin them. In February 1981, I proposed an endowment fund for the nation as a cure for the national debt. It is time to rebuy the future for generations of Americans still unborn. It is time to slow, then reverse, this strangling situation that invades every fiber of our national life and compromises every lofty goal and objective - and every financial need - of America. Gene Liss is co-publisher of Limelight magazine, St. Louis. ------------------------------------------ 11 1/2 Trillion Dollars Later ... From Thursday, May 28th, 1992 St. Louis Post Dispatch A subject that was to become the focus of a Senate bi-partisan coalition and a special Presidential address ------------------------------------------
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By
Gene Liss If every American could be polled and and asked: "What is the most serious problem facing our Nation" it is a surety that the great majority would answer: "The cost of living", or "inflation." Yet, rarely, is the primary cause ofinflation even looked at, analyzed or attacked. Our huge NATIONAL DEBT is the one greatest contributor to inflation That is not to say that foreign oil, imported cars, or a bloated Defense budget, the bureaucracy itself do not also play large roles. But the interest paid on our National Debt more than anything else, keeps the Nation's money printing presses whirring in a futile effort to stay even, But, like robbing Peter to pay Paul, each year finds us digging deeper and deeper. This debt, and the interest it requires, invades every fiber of our National life and adds an unfair mortgage and burden to the inheritance of every' present and future American. Is there a way out? I think so! If we will look at the richest entities in our Country we will find that among them are Church, University and Charitable Funds. Their wealth has been built in a two fold manner. By being free from the tax roles and by individual and corporate endowment. But a rich Church and University structure, individuals worth hundreds of millions of dollars are hardly secure in a bankrupt Nation. Why could we not found AN ENDOWMENT FOR THE NATION? Wherein ALL of the money raised went for one purpose and one purpose only. To reduce the National Debt. Bring it under control. It could start with generous donations from the wealthiest firms in America. Add to that the richest individuals. Then our Churches, our Universities, our huge Charitable Trusts. No one is asking them to give 'til it hurts, just give because it helps. Everyday citizens by the millions would join in. Some might turn in their savings bonds unredeemed. Other nations, other times, have seen individuals give the rings from their fingers to protect their land. Would we do less? Nor would this Nation Endowment fund preclude gifts from foreign nations and individuals. Why not? How many billions upon billions have we given? It is a thought that should be considered. ~ Government, working in conjunction with tlie great "salesmen" who now manage the huge endowments, could formulate a plan. Establish a NATIONAL ENDOWMENT, whose sole purpose was to reduce the National Debt. The media, press, radio, TV, could promote it. It couldwell be a rallying point for the Nation, although, no doubt, there would be those who carped about it. But
it is time to rebuy the future of generations of Americans still
unborn. To slow, then reverse, the upwards spiral of a National
Debt that requires the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars
of interest each week. Once a downwards momentum was established
The National Endowment itself would keep reducing debt while it
built income into each of our pockets in the form of lower taxation,
slower inflation. It. is something that those I have talked to would
eagerly contributed to. It would find its way into the wills of
many and would focus a national effort on our largest problem. |