-By Vince Johnson
It is a full-page ad designed to appear in such papers as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, or USA Today. The headline is in 72 point type and appears over a photo of 12 Middle School students in a classroom:
WILL YOU SEND US TO PRISON IF WE
REFUSE TO MAKE PAYMENTS ON YOUR DEBTS?
We are talking about your federal debt. You keep borrowing money from our future to finance wars, build billion dollar bridges between Alaskan villages, and “little” things like the multi-million dollar Indoor Rainforest Project in Iowa. You blame this continual borrowing on the politicians and do nothing except complain about it whenever you get tired of yakking about the weather.
If you were truly responsible adults, you would tell us the truth. You would tell us that you do not have enough money to pay for all the things you want, so you borrow from us. The amount is now around nine trillion dollars and increasing everyday. That’s Nine Thousand Billion Dollars you have borrowed from us!
How would you like it if we borrowed that kind of money directly from your future? How would you like it if we did it without your permission? How would you like it if we passed laws authorizing the courts to send you to prison if you refused to make payments on money we borrowed from you?
That is exactly what your generation is doing to our generation. If you want to discuss this further, please wait until we graduate from high school. These next four or five years may be the few remaining where we can be kids and never have to worry about our nation going bankrupt or how we can survive with what we have left after paying taxes.
This ad concept designed by Vince Johnson, Reality Consultant
I am a veteran of WW II and the Korean Conflict. I believe it is unconstitutional to force our children to make payments on a debt we created without their knowledge or approval. If you agree, print this article and have your kids use it at school for “Show and Tell.”
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Vince Johnson welcomes comments. Please send them to,Vince Johnson(vjadtrak@wvi.com)
See Vince in the new book Americans on Politics. Policy, and Pop-Culture.