National Debt isn't as bad as we make it out to be

I'd like to focus my attention this round by deflecting the merit of my opponents counters while also expanding on my previous points. 1. The Debt and National Security In both retirement speeches, former four star general, David Petraeus and former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates both warned that massive cuts to defense would lead to greater security risks and to a diminished US role in the world. While I acknowledge that both men are no longer in the nation's service, I think my opponent would be very hard pressed to find more credible security experts than General Petraeus and Secretary Gates, especially when it comes towards preparing the military for future threats. Gates's speech http://www.reuters.com... Petraeus's speech http://p.washingtontimes.com... Fixing the deficit also would not be an immediate problem if it was not for a huge $16 trillion dollar debt that my opponent continues to underestimate, and the need to occasionally raise the debt-ceiling at the risk of a "fiscal cliff" and government shutdown, which happened twice already in 2011 and 2013. How my opponent can argue that the debt is just a run of the mill economic problem and not a viable national security concern is beyond understanding. My opponent also errors tremendously in his strategic military thinking. The responsibilities and security needs of the United States are far greater than they were in 1914, security needs went from "land and sea" to "land, air, sea, space, cyberspace, and global terrorism." Current levels of modern technology, procurement, and funding make no difference if the capabilities of the military are not there to meet the security needs of today or tomorrow, which Secretaries Gates and Panetta both expressed in their many testimonies before Congress over proposed defense cuts. As it stands, the current fleet of Air Force planes is the oldest in USAF history, the USN has the smallest number of ships since WWI, the Army and Marines will soon be at one of their weakest troop levels and readiness ever, and I shouldn't even have to remind the folks what happens to a nuclear deterrent once it reaches its expiration date. One could say historically that the debt has been one of America's greatest defense asserts - we've been able to fund the most powerful military in the world without fear of economic collapse. But the amount of money we pay alone on debt interest to China (some $74 million a day) equals a brand new F-22 fighter jet every other day, or three new aircraft a week plus change - one might say America's debt is now bankrolling the Chinese military buildup. $74 million a day http://www.politifact.com... 2. The debt and reserve currency status My opponent errors, being the world's reserve currency has plenty to do with the US economy as a whole. It's a main reason why the United States can afford to spend and buy more than it actually makes. Banks worldwide hold onto large reserves of dollars to facilitate trade because most important goods on the world marketplace -like food and oil- are priced in US dollars. Having US dollars at hand for its reserve status also backs their own weak currencies. These obvious benefits in turn -baseline price for goods and constant demand for US dollars by foreign banks- backs the value of the dollar, allowing the US to print even larger amounts of its currency with relatively little inflation. And if my opponent pays attention to the news these days, he will agree with me that its been the FED, with their aggressive cash injection into the US economy combined with low interest rates, that has kept the US economy on life support. Losing that neat ability to print money however, should the US be forced to pay off its debt after losing its currency status to the Chinese, followed by a dollar collapse, would be catastrophic. 3. Can't keep passing the debt down the road and payback should not be slow, Everyday the US fails to pay its debt, it adds future hardship to future younger generations of Americans who WILL BE forced to pay off that debt. Already we've seen the beginnings of civil unrest with the Tea Party and Occupy Wall St movements, and its only going to get worse once America goes broke through Social Security and Obamacare, or tries to increase taxes, all of which might begin to occur within the next ten years. Chipping away at the debt is just an excuse is to say you put a cork in a sinking ship without actually really doing anything significant to save the ship. It's only a matter of time before the ship does sink, which is going to happen if the US just continues to raise the debt ceiling without actually summoning the political courage to curtail spending, cut entitlements, or reform the tax code.