National debt debate

From Fox11online.com

- President Obama's $3.6 trillion proposed budget is getting mixed reviews from Congress, especially what it may mean for the national debt of more than $10 trillion.

The opinions also differ among some of Wisconsin's representatives.

"I'm confident in the fiscally responsible approach President Barack Obama, we will be able to achieve our goals of cutting the debt in half over a period of time," said Democratic Representative Steve Kagen.

Republican Representative Tom Petri says the Congressional Budget Office disagrees.

"They project a doubling of the deficits over what the President's budget provided for," said Petri. "That's very bad news indeed."

St. Norbert College Economics Professor, Kevin Quinn, says besides concerns about owing money to foreign countries, a large national debt is similar to household debt.

"If you have heavy debt, a lot of your obligations go to paying interest on that. That means there are all kinds of cool things you are not doing because you're paying interest."

Except, for the government, Quinn says those are things like health care, self defense and education.

"(President Obama) inherited a debt of $10.5 trillion. Now you can't reach into Houdini's magic hat and make that debt disappear overnight," said Kagen.

"We really have to go back to the drawing boards if we're going to be responsible custodians of the public purse," said Petri.

Votes by both the Senate and the House on a revised version of President Obama's proposed budget are expected by the end of next week.