I WAS born in a small town in the Panhandle of Texas and am a baby boomer. I graduated from high school, served three years in the U.S. Army, half of my service in Vietnam. After being honorably discharged from the service, I returned home to Texas, earned a college degree and have lived the American Dream. My family and I have much more than we probably deserve.

This article is not about Democrats or Republicans, but rather my strong beliefs regarding the prospects of the X and Y generation having the same opportunities that my wife and I have had in this great nation.

There is a large segment of the American public that has bought into the fact that the government owes them something for nothing. This notion and attitude is going to destroy your ability to save money and educate your children.

Actually this is why I am writing this editorial in hopes I can reach our young families in Texas that have the ability to put all of this in perspective. If you care about your family’s future, please continue to read because I am going to explain what is happening in terms anyone can understand. This information is public knowledge and can be verified.

Reality Check! It takes 100 one dollar bills to make a stack one inch high. If you and your spouse work and earn $60,000 per year, you have earned a stack of dollar bills 54 feet tall. After you pay your federal, state and local taxes, 21 feet of your 54 feet of bills earned have vanished. This is before you pay your mortgage, buy a penny’s worth of food or one item of clothing for your children.

The expected federal budget for 2010 is $3.4 trillion. A trillion dollars is 1,000 billion. One million dollars is a stack of dollar bills 910 feet tall. That is equal to a building 80 stories tall. One billion dollars is a stack 172 miles high. That’s the distance between Dallas and Austin, Texas. One trillion dollars is a stack 172,000 miles high. That is seven times around the earth.

THE 2010 federal budget is a stack of dollar bills 586,204 miles high and would reach to the moon and back two-and-a-half times or 23 times around the earth. Let that number soak in for just a moment. You must agree this has to be one of the most frightening things you have heard.

The scary part is that each family is going to be taxed more to pay off this spending. The money the United States Cogress has borrowed over the last few years is now totaling $12.1 trillion.

This is a stack of dollar bills that would stretch around the earth 83 times. Our young families must realize that the weight of this enormous debt is going to destroy this nation and everyone’s children’s and grandchildren’s future. Every family’s part of this 2010 budget is a stack of dollar bills 92 feet tall.

Currently, 33 percent of all Americans pay zero federal taxes. If you work and play by the rules and pay your taxes, you and your children and grandchildren are the ones that will be paying off this enormous debt. If you and your spouse earn 54 feet of dollar bills, and your part of the 2010 budget is 92 feet of dollar bills, who pays the rest?

Well, it is going to be borrowed on a credit card in your name and the 71 feet of dollar bills you owe will grow with interest each year. I will let you in on a dirty little secret. Within a short time, you will not owe 21 feet of dollar bills each year in taxes, you will owe 30 feet or more of dollar bills, but your 54 feet of earned dollars will probably not change much.

You are being told that you must sacrifice. In my humble opinion, if you eventually have to pay a third or more of your hard-earned money in taxes, that is a sacrifice. For all of you that do not know, the President of the United States does not have the authority to spend one dollar that Congress does not provide.

All spending starts in the United States House of Representatives, not at the White House. It is in your best interest to determine who is spending your future away and most of you are intelligent and can very easily do that if you will just take the time.

If someone was harming your family in another way you would not hesitate one second to take action. This crisis is much more serious than anything most of you have ever faced. May I make a suggestion. Just find out if your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators vote to spend 586,204 miles ($3.4 trillion) of dollar bills in the 2010 federal budget. If you agree that spending this amount of money is dangerous and irresponsible, you need to tell them to vote no on this budget.

If they vote against your wishes, be sure and remember them next time you cast your vote. If you are not registered to vote, do so immediately. Don’t buy into the notion that spending this money is good for your future.

Like I said earlier, this message is only for the young people that are raising a family, working hard and playing by the rules. All young families in this nation need to demand that this risky business stop or I can assure you that your economic future is in jeopardy and will disappear before your very eyes.

When something is destroyed, it’s gone forever. The weight of this borrowed money that is being wasted in Washington, D.C., will cause this nation to collapse, and 50 percent of this budget I am talking about is being borrowed in your family’s name.

This insanity did not start on January 20, 2009. It started years ago. It just recently got to the point of being unbelievable and brings me to the point of this article. These numbers are true and cannot be denied.

Think for yourself! Put down your BlackBerry. Most of you are smart, educated and have the ability to reason. You owe this to your children. In a few years I will be gone. I will leave behind three children and four (at present) grandchildren.

I can hardly imagine what we are leaving for them. I hope I do not have to watch this great nation fall because of political greed. American soldiers have died around the world to protect freedom. Maybe even one of your relatives has lost their life serving in the armed forces.

America has fed the world for decades. We have cared for the sick. Our technology is second to none. We are the first country to arrive in foreign nations after a disaster and the last to leave. America is the only beacon of freedom in the world. People are dying today trying to come here and live the American dream.

It is up to you to speak up now and demand some sanity to be restored to our government. It breaks my heart to see our country bankrupt itself. It is happening before our very eyes. May God Bless you and May God Bless America.

The author resides in Amarillo.