Students at Grace College in Winona Lake have put up a “national debt clock.” But they acknowledge it’s already running slow.
Their “clock” consists of permanent markings on seven yard signs reminding passers-by of the $14 trillion national debt. Updating the 14 numerals to the dollar “would be wonderful to do, but it is physically impossible,” student Ryan Paradis said.
That’s because the national debt grows by tens of thousands of dollars every second, he said.
“In the five days the sign will be up, $20 billion will be added to the national debt,” Paradis said. The sign will be stationed near the library through Friday.
Paradis, a senior business administration major from Lebanon, Ohio, is president of the Grace chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. The group’s sign is part of the nationwide organization’s “Visualize the Debt” project on 75 campuses.
“It’s to raise awareness of the issue, and we’re getting signatures to let Congressman Stutzman know we support his position,” Paradis said.
Freshman Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-3rd, has been among congressman calling for sharp reductions in the federal budget deficit and the national debt.
Young Americans for Liberty sprang from Students for Ron Paul, an organization that supported the 2008 presidential bid of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.
“I appreciate Ron Paul and what he does,” Paradis said. “I’m not a die-hard fan. Young Americans for Liberty does not endorse any political candidates.”
Paradis said about two-dozen students belong to the Young Americans for Liberty chapter at Grace, an evangelical Christian college with an enrollment of 1,200.