It didn’t happen overnight, this $16.4 trillion debt, and it won’t be cleared up in a short time. It took two decades to get here and could take as many to erase. There is a possibility we will suffer more than you would think as we pay our debt.

I believe we have reached the stage that rating systems such as Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s may come down hard on us. If so, our interest rates could go much higher.

Have we delayed our quest to eliminate the deficit too long? I hope not, but there has to be a time for the Congress and president to act. Drastic cuts need to be made and this doesn’t seem to be happening.

We need to stay out of billion-dollar wars and realize we can’t lend money when we don’t have it. All laws should be considered carefully and count the cost. In other words, we need different thinking by our legislative body.

John C. Beckham

Savannah, Tenn.