How will U.S. pay its debt to China?

America could be debt free with the stroke of a pen. What does America have in wealth that we could turn over to China, our biggest creditor? The answer may well be land.

How about out west or Alaska where our government has taken over ownership? China might want to start oil production. China may want to negotiate acquiring Hawaii for a resort for all those hard-working Chinese.

I write this tongue-in-cheek and yet this might happen. The 16th Amendment has given the federal government the right to tax beyond common sense. The 17th Amendment has taken representation away from the states. We do not have a balance of power between the three branches of government.

When you extend your credit excessively, you lose your home. It's now up to China when they will knock on our door and want full payment.

Television commentators and politicians are far too optimistic when they tell us that we will have to make some hard choices. Reality probably means we better learn how to speak Chinese.

Pat Conrad

Marion