Gary Franks, syndicated columnist

Before our failure to prevent 9/11, which led to wars in Iraq and America’s longest war ever in Afghanistan, America was able to pay its bills. We had a balanced budget, thanks to former President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress. So, I ask, is Osama bin Laden actually winning today in his quest to bankrupt America?

Here is a fact: We have had to borrow money to pay the nation’s bills for the entire 21 st Century. When we cannot pay our bills, this means we are in a financial crisis, no matter how you sugarcoat it.

For 25 years our politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, have been ignoring the big elephant in the room. We simply do not have the money anymore. We have to borrow money – and go into further debt as a nation – to pay our bills. We have not balanced our budget in the 21 st Century. Could you get away with not doing that in your home for decades? It is not fiscally sustainable.

When I was elected to Congress in 1990 our national debt stood at $3.23 trillion. When we started the new century, it ballooned to $5.6 trillion. And today we are at a whopping $38 trillion. This is due solely to the bad decisions of our elected officials, an unwillingness to do hard things, incompetence, lack of courage, and a “kick-the-can-down-the-road” approach to governing.

The service on our debt today is a staggering $1 trillion. That is about as large as our entire defense budget – which is amazing. That amount is up to 20% of our budget and is growing rapidly.

We have an economic crisis on the individual level as well. The number of bankruptcies in the last 12 months has increased to a record level. In December alone it was up more than 21% from the previous December. Overall, bankruptcies were up 14% over the prior year.

Then we have the ever-increasing level of household debt that Americans are holding – which sits at nearly $19 trillion, up over 10% from the prior year.

Even worse, we have around 800,000 homeless people. This number is more than the population of Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Washington, DC.

And our media seems preoccupied with chasing ambulances and seeking the next exciting story? Instead of challenging our elected officials, the media is easily distracted by our “clever” do-nothing elected leaders.

Regrettably, our president is off playing war games, revenge games, and tariff wars everywhere – as long as he can use bullying tactics. We have high-level government officials who ignore the law – like the full release of the Epstein files, which is mandated by a recently passed law. These brazen federal officials can often see a totally different reality. For example, they are pushing false narratives about what is happening in Minnesota. They all seem to try the American people’s patience, intelligence, and respect.

Today the term “terrorist” supersedes drug-kingpin, mobster, gangster, or communist. Nothing could be worse. Even in the tragedies in Minnesota the federal government officials were quick to refer to those involved in the fatal confrontations with ICE as “terrorists.” Why? Because it is like saying “Mufasa” in the “Lion King” classic movie – it is meant to make you shiver with fear.

How did we get here? After 9/11 we created what has become the fastest growing federal government agency with over 240,000 employees and outside contractors employing many times over that figure.

The Homeland Security Department was quickly created in 2002 to act like a “federal quasi-military domestic police force” with many dressed in military uniforms (ICE was formed a year later in 2003).

As we beef up ICE, we continue to spend like drunken sailors. How many people can get up to a $50,000 signing bonus for taking the job? Student loans for those admitted are eliminated up to $60,000. And each could receive a 25% premium on their salary. Wow! Not bad! Welcome to ICE where you ultimately report to the president.

What has to be remembered was the goal of Osama bin Laden when he stated in a radio interview in 2004 that he wanted to bankrupt America as he anticipated the U.S. overreacting to the 9/11 attacks – an overreaction that would sap its financial power.

The estimated total expenses of the Homeland Security Agency over the years would be trillions of dollars and that would not include spending from the numerous other government agencies, including the Defense Department.

In 1878 Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act which prohibited the military from performing domestic law enforcement, with the exception of an insurrection.

Since the Civil War, the most memorable instance of a violation of the spirit of that law was in 1970 when Americans were protesting the Vietnam war, a war that saw more than 58,000 Americans killed. In May of that year, four students were killed and nine wounded by American soldiers on the campus of Kent State. In like fashion, this month we have lost two Americans in Minnesota who were protesting ICE’s tactics. Our prayers go out to the families of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. We can add the two National Guard soldiers who were killed in Washington, D.C. and we must not forget that ICE officers have fired upon a number of Americans in the last few months – that should make us all pause and reflect on what we have become.

America has many serious problems. But chasing down those who entered America illegally is not one of them. And try if you will, but you will never apprehend or remove all the “bad people,” nor will we ever stop evil people from being evil, and boogiemen will always exist, even if we spend ourselves into bankruptcy to get them.

Just look at the math. If we did not spend huge amounts of money on Homeland Security and reduced, just slightly, other federal government spending targeted toward preventing another 9/11, and minus our “forever wars” caused by 9/11, we would have had balanced budgets throughout the 21 st Century. And actually, we would have had surpluses that could be used to reduce our national debt.

If allowed to continue to grow unchecked, our debt problem would grant Bin Laden his wish: an insolvent United States of America.

We must take our annual federal budget deficits and national debt more seriously.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org