LETTER: Here’s how empires fail

With all that is going on in the world, from the increasing cost of living, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, sweeping ICE immigration raids as well as the ongoing battle over the Epstein files, it is easy to turn a blind eye to the most perilous long-term threat to America: Our rapidly growing national debt.

Every advanced civilization has eventually failed. There have been a number of different reasons, but fiscal instability, including overspending, inflation and little regard for the future has always been at the core.

We have been warned that our nation is headed down the same path as other failed empires. Unfortunately, our presidents and Congress have failed to heed the warning.

The United States is insolvent. We cannot pay our debts without massive borrowing. Our interest-bearing debt is more than $38 trillion and growing. That is equivalent to 125 percent of GNP and is unsustainable.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Tax Bill” will increase the nation’s debt by roughly $5 trillion over the next decade. Congress was aware of this and yet our submissive legislators passed the bill, which placated the president and continued to give corporations and his billionaire cronies huge tax cuts, while doing nothing for the average worker.

Term limits could be a crucial first step for balancing our budget. Career politicians are more concerned with the next election than the nation’s long-term fiscal health. With a limited time in office, members of Congress might be more inclined to make the hard choices needed to balance the budget and make our great nation solvent again.