Dear Future President,

My name is Will Stack, and I am currently studying the history of the United States at Staples High School in Westport Connecticut. Since the formation of the United States, a debt of nineteen trillion dollars has been exceeded. With the debt pushing twenty trillion dollars, something needs to be done soon. Following President Obama not doing much for the debt besides increasing it during the past eight years (during his two terms) a solution is neccessary to many people's beliefs. I believe that the debt is the most important issue for the future president, as the increase in debt could lead to many other economic issues in the US. Over the past six years, since 2010, the debt has increased by 34%, which comes out to six trillion dollars. If the United States continues to lose one trillion dollars to the debt per year, then the debt will get so out of hand that we won’t be able to pay out of it.

For the future, the national debt is and should be, one of the biggest concerns for this country. The national debt causes many issues that need to be solved, such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the near future, according to The New York Times, “At some point, investors could begin to question a government’s ability or willingness to make good on its obligations, which could make it more expensive to finance the existing debt, while also requiring higher taxes, spending cuts, or a combination,which could hinder growth.” (Zumbrum, Timiraos) This means that with the debt increasing, the amount of goods America produces and the amount of services it provides will decrease, which is a similar situation in Greece. As well as the GDP decrease, the United States will face a large decrease in investors. Without general investors, only private equity investors would be able to invest in growing companies. This means that the companies cannot grow as quickly and effectively, which is never good for the economy. The national debt of the United States must be at least addressed when the next president is put into charge.

Since the national debt is such a threat to the economy, I wonder what either you, Mrs. Clinton, or you, Mr. Trump, will do for this country’s largest issue. From cutting funding to cutting spending, many strategies have been marked as unlikely to succeed. According to the Huffington Post, Mr. Trump, “Donald Trump’s policy agenda would quickly push the national debt to its highest level in history” (Cohn) The proposal you have made has been studied and proven to be only adding to the debt. Mrs. Clinton, according to The Politics and Elections “I think that our rising debt levels poses a national security threat. And it poses a national security threat in two ways. It undermines our capacity to act in our own interests and it does constrain us, where constraint may be undesirable. And it also sends a message of weakness internationally.” (Clinton) This shows your views on our debt in the US, and that it poses a security and international threat. With the debt, our country looks weak and unproven.

The national debt is the biggest issue the US is facing at this moment, and as our future president, one of you must do something. A smart decision to cut the debt would be to dramatically decrease the government's spending, while dropping funding enough to make a difference, but not too much. The debt must be addressed because of the issues it creates, including the decrease in Gross Domestic Product, as well as what you said Mrs. Clinton, about it making our country look weak. The national debt must be solved so that America can be brought to the economic level necessary.