Maya MacGuineas: Both Republicans and Democrats are ignoring a growing danger to our economy and national security: the national debt

Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently wrote an opinion piece for Business Insider, an excerpt of which is below.

The national debt is an issue that lawmakers are doing their best to ignore these days—as demonstrated by the President's non-serious budget, the House's plan to not even pass a budget, and the leading presidential candidates' not feeling the need to have a plan to fix it. 

In isolation, the debt is not the largest threat facing the nation.

On the external front, there are attempts by Russia to weaken our democracy and China continues to employ aggressive tactics to gain economic advantage. The climate threat is growing rapidly and the downsides of technology are becoming more apparent. Domestically, income inequality is reaching untenable levels and our governance system is basically non-functioning.

Read the entire piece here.

"My Views" are works published by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, but they do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.