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A recent front page of our Williamsport Sun-Gazette reported on a record being set -- but it isn't a record any American should take pride in.
The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion.
It is an issue that we as an editorial board have encouraged our elected officials to take more seriously for years, if not decades. Too often, unfortunately, our elected officials -- in both parties and across all ideologies -- have not heeded our advice.
A $40-trillion debt -- and spending deficits that keep that astronomical figure only climbing -- is also a problem that will require sacrifices from both parties and across all ideologies.
How great those sacrifices will be is anyone's guess. But we feel confident that had our legislators and president addresses this trajectory 20 years ago, the sacrifices we could've made then would have been more manageable.
We feel just as confident that, if delayed or postponed, another 20 years, the sacrifices that will need to be made by the next generation will be greater -- tax rates that have to climb even higher, spending cuts that have to cut even deeper.
And unfortunately, we feel almost as confident that addressed this critical issue will again be delayed.