After Tony Jones’ fine column about federal debt, I wish to revisit my spring 2021 letter.

Our government spending is unsustainable. The national debt is $30 trillion or $84,834 for every U.S. citizen. The last three presidents added $21.14 trillion debt. $6.7 trillion was added by Donald Trump in only four years. The other two presidents had eight years to achieve similar numbers. It’s bad enough if just the national government was piling on debt. It doesn’t include our state or local governments.  Colorado borrowed $1 billion from the federal government to fund unemployment payments.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was chaired by former Sen. Alan Simpson and former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles. It was “One of the most credible debt/deficit reduction plans on the table,” according to the Brookings Institute. The 2010 commission was appointed by President Barak Obama. The report failed to get 14 of the 18 members support to be sent to the Congress.

The report contained recommendations that provide a blueprint for debt reduction. They include:

• Stop fantasizing about easy budget fixes

• Compromise is not a dirty word

Former Gov. Chris Christie said at a Brookings address, “The job of an executive is to make sure that you get the job done, that you force people into a room and you find a way to get to compromise. He continued:

• Going big is easier politically than staying small
• If you take something off the table, you have to replace it with a comparable recommendation
• Protect politicians from themselves — racing difficult choices, provide procedural mechanisms that force action and shield them from unpleasant political realities

Could this be a starting point for conversation? We desperately need term limits.