The Power of Debt

I am reading a book about Andrew Jackson. It is called American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. The author is John Meacham. Although it may be obvious, I am quite concerned about the tremendous debt that we are in as a nation. We are in debt to China, apparently. We are also in debt to other nations. This is not only a worry because we may never pay it off, but because it could render us to a critical position if our creditors ever decided to call all of our debts due. This was brought to my mind by a small part that I read in this book. This is how it was stated in the book:

"Related, in Jackon's mind, was the issue of the national debt (the money owed by the federal government). To him debt was dangerous, for debt put power in the hands of creditors--and if power was in the hands of creditors, it could not be in the hands of the people, where Jackson believed it belonged."

I concur. As I mentioned briefly before, one of the ideals that was important to the founding fathers was balancing the need for something with our ability to pay for it. Seeing our indebtedness and the height that it will be raised to if we fund a national health care program makes me tremble. The debt will never be paid in our lifetime and that is a lousy legacy to leave to our children. Don't you agree?