Letter | Watch out for Greek crisis at home

Published 4:29 pm Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” We see this today in Greece where social programs irresponsibly expanded, leading to collapsing finances.

The U.S. is on a similar path. Our unfunded liabilities are over $100 trillion. Yet, politicians routinely get elected by promising freebies — free healthcare, free college and pre-K education, more welfare. Entitlement programs make up more than two-thirds of the federal budget and grow each year. The rich are often targeted to pay higher taxes, but even if the top 10 percent were taxed 100 percent (and didn’t leave the country), the U.S. still couldn’t pay its annual debts.

The U.S. has a spending problem and is heading towards financial disaster. Only faith backs our currency and the time is coming that creditors won’t trust the government’s ability to repay. Greece is looking at Germany for relief; will anyone be able to bail the U.S. out?

We have seen examples of hyperinflation and collapsed economies such as Zimbabwe and Germany post WWI, where civil rights and collapse, folks need wheelbarrows of money to buy bread, and representative government collapses.

Irresponsible spending has taken down top powers throughout history. We need to make the right choices and not just elect those who promise the most “free stuff.” Making social programs sustainable and cutting government spending are keys to avoiding this dark future.

Ethan Schwaber

Snoqualmie