THE WASHINGTON UNION PAPERS: NO. 5

WHY THE U.S. MUST REDUCE ITS DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN DEBT & BANKS

To the People of the United States,

A nation that borrows its way into dependency trades short-term convenience for long-term vulnerability. No people can claim to be masters of their own fate while shackled to the financial whims of others, no government can call itself sovereign while its survival depends on the continued indulgence of foreign creditors. We have been told that debt is a tool, that borrowing from other nations allows us to sustain our economy, to invest in our future, to fund the ambitions of a global superpower. But this is not strategy—it is surrender. And a nation that places itself at the mercy of lenders it cannot control, of banks that see no allegiance beyond their own balance sheets, is a nation that has already begun to decline.

Let us speak plainly: an America that owes its financial security to others is not an America in command of its own destiny. We have allowed ourselves to be governed not by economic wisdom, but by the misguided belief that debt without discipline can sustain a republic. We have handed over our leverage, piece by piece, until our ability to act in our own interest is constrained by obligations we should never have taken on in the first place. We fund our government with borrowed money, finance our military with credit extended by foreign powers, and allow multinational banks to dictate policies that favor global markets over the well-being of American workers. And what has this brought us? Stability? Strength? No—it has brought us dependence, the kind that weakens a nation from within, the kind that turns sovereignty into an illusion.

The framers of this republic understood that financial independence is as essential to liberty as political independence. Hamilton did not build a system of national finance so that America could one day become a debtor to foreign interests; he built it so that America could stand on its own, so that it would never find itself at the mercy of those who could use debt as a weapon against it. He knew that control of one’s economy is control of one’s future, that a government that cannot sustain itself without borrowing is not truly governing, but surviving at the discretion of its creditors. And yet today, we ignore this lesson, binding ourselves to obligations that limit our power, selling off pieces of our future for the sake of avoiding hard decisions in the present.

We must ask ourselves: what kind of nation do we wish to be? Do we aspire to remain a leader of the free world, shaping global affairs on our own terms, acting in accordance with our own interests? Or will we resign ourselves to becoming a debtor state, one whose policies are subtly influenced—if not outright dictated—by those who hold its financial strings? For make no mistake, debt is not neutral. A nation whose infrastructure, military, and public services are funded by foreign capital is a nation that can be pressured, that can be manipulated, that can be forced into compromise when its interests demand resolve. We have already seen this happen in other parts of the world. We have watched as nations that once stood strong were brought low, not by armies, not by invasion, but by debt obligations that gave their creditors more power over their future than their own people possessed.

And yet, there are those who tell us that this path is sustainable. That borrowing at this level is necessary, that it is how modern economies function. But these are the same voices that told us that outsourcing our industries would make us stronger, that deregulating our banks would make us wealthier, that allowing multinational corporations to dictate trade policy would make us more competitive. They have been proven wrong before. And if we continue to listen to them, if we continue to allow this nation’s wealth to be extracted rather than reinvested, if we continue to finance our ambitions not through the strength of our own economy but through the indulgence of others, then we will prove them right in the only way that matters—by allowing this republic to fade from greatness, not through force, but through financial neglect.

Economic servitude is not a state we have been forced into; it is a condition we have allowed to happen. But we do not have to accept it. We do not have to continue down this path. We can, and must, reclaim our financial sovereignty. Not tomorrow. Not in some distant future. Now. Before the choices we have left are no longer ours to make.

We have been told that our debt-fueled economy is sustainable, that borrowing from foreign creditors allows us to finance our ambitions, that the interconnected nature of global finance makes such dependency inevitable. But this is a lie. No great power in history has ever maintained its dominance while owing its financial security to others. Rome fell not simply because of external invasion, but because it allowed its economy to become dependent on foreign resources it could no longer control. The British Empire, once the unrivaled master of global commerce, saw its influence wane when its financial obligations outpaced its ability to sustain them. And today, the United States, the wealthiest nation on earth, finds itself in a position where it cannot fund its own government, cannot sustain its economic power, cannot even guarantee the stability of its financial system without borrowing heavily from foreign creditors—many of whom do not share our interests and would gladly see our influence diminished.

This is not the mark of strength. It is the mark of a nation that has surrendered its financial sovereignty in exchange for short-term convenience. It is the result of decades of reckless spending, of corporate greed masquerading as free-market efficiency, of a political class that has allowed foreign creditors and multinational banks to dictate the terms of our economic existence. And as a result, we find ourselves beholden to those who do not act in our interest. Our national debt has soared beyond $34 trillion, with foreign entities holding over $7 trillion of that sum. We have allowed nations such as China and Japan to become the financial pillars upon which our government stands, leaving us vulnerable to economic coercion, to sudden shifts in policy that are not dictated by our own needs, but by the strategies of those who hold our debt.

And yet, rather than recognizing the danger, we continue to deepen our dependency. We allow Wall Street banks—institutions that claim to represent the American economy but are, in truth, global financial entities—to dictate policy, to gamble with our economy, to leverage their influence in Washington to ensure that every crisis they create is met not with accountability, but with bailouts. We have created a system where the profits of financial institutions are privatized, but their failures are borne by the public, where global banks are too big to fail, but the American worker is too small to save. And as this cycle continues, as we borrow more, as we outsource more, as we relinquish more of our economic power to foreign lenders and corporate financiers, we accelerate our own decline.

But this decline is not inevitable. The Washington Union Plan recognizes that true economic sovereignty cannot exist so long as our nation remains shackled by foreign debt and beholden to banks that see no allegiance to the American people. This is not simply a financial issue; it is a question of power, of independence, of whether we will stand as a nation that commands its own future or one that begs for permission to secure its own interests. It is the difference between leadership and servitude, between shaping history and being shaped by it.

For too long, we have been fed the lie that financial dependence is unavoidable, that in an interconnected world, no nation can truly stand on its own. But those who say this misunderstand what sovereignty means. It does not mean isolation. It does not mean cutting ourselves off from the world. It means ensuring that no foreign entity, no multinational bank, no external force holds enough leverage over us to dictate our policies, our priorities, our very survival. It means that the wealth generated by the American worker, the American entrepreneur, the American mind, is not siphoned away to service debts that should never have been accrued in the first place. It means that when our government acts, it does so in the interest of its people, not in deference to the financial institutions that see nations as markets, citizens as consumers, economies as things to be exploited rather than strengthened.

We cannot continue to allow our financial future to be determined by interests that are not our own. Every dollar borrowed from a foreign creditor is a dollar that can be used against us. Every economic policy dictated by multinational banks is a policy that does not serve the American people. And every moment we allow this system to persist is a moment we forfeit our ability to lead. There is no reason—none—that the wealthiest nation on Earth should be reliant on the financial mercy of others. There is no reason that our prosperity should be conditional, that our security should be negotiable, that our government should have to answer to creditors rather than citizens. And yet, this is the reality we have created through decades of reckless borrowing, of ceding financial control to institutions that do not answer to the people, of prioritizing corporate profits over national stability.

We must reclaim control over our economy, over our currency, over the mechanisms that sustain our national power. This is not an abstract goal. It is a mandate for action. It means restructuring our financial priorities so that we invest in industry, in infrastructure, in innovation rather than in servicing endless debt. It means breaking the cycle of dependence that forces us to bow to foreign lenders instead of building our own wealth. It means refusing to accept the premise that a nation as vast, as resource-rich, as capable as the United States must rely on others to sustain itself. And above all, it means recognizing that financial sovereignty is not just an economic issue—it is a national security imperative, a foundation upon which all other forms of strength rest. Without it, we are not free. Without it, we are not strong. Without it, we are merely borrowing time, borrowing prosperity, borrowing the illusion of power while the reality of it slips further from our grasp.

The Washington Union Plan does not seek to manage our decline. It seeks to reverse it. It does not seek to make this dependency more bearable—it seeks to end it. It is a plan for an America that stands on its own, that answers only to its people, that does not wait for permission to be great but acts with the certainty that sovereignty is not given—it is taken, it is secured, it is built.

And we must build it, not tomorrow, not when crisis forces our hand, but now, before the cost of inaction becomes irreversible.

This means breaking our reliance on foreign debt by prioritizing fiscal responsibility—not through austerity that crushes the working class, but through policies that ensure that America generates its own wealth rather than borrowing it from abroad. It means implementing measures that prevent foreign nations from using debt as a weapon against us, that ensure that no foreign power can dictate our policies simply because they hold our obligations. It means reining in the power of multinational banks, breaking the cycle of endless bailouts, ensuring that financial institutions serve the nation rather than exploiting it. It means investing in industries that generate real economic growth, not speculative financial instruments that enrich a handful of elites while leaving the broader economy vulnerable to collapse. It means ensuring that our financial policies serve the interests of the American worker, the American entrepreneur, the American family—not the interests of corporate executives and foreign creditors who seek only to extract wealth, not create it.

There will be those who claim that such policies are too bold, too disruptive, that the system we have built is too entrenched to change. But history has shown us otherwise. It has shown us that great nations rise and fall not by accident, but by choice. That those who recognize the danger of dependency and act to reverse it can reclaim their strength. That economic sovereignty is not a relic of the past, but the foundation of the future. And we must choose that future.

The choice before us is clear. We can continue down the path of dependency, of increasing foreign debt, of allowing our financial system to serve the interests of the few while burdening the many. Or we can reclaim our independence, restore our financial sovereignty, and ensure that the wealth of this nation serves its people rather than being siphoned away by foreign creditors and global financiers.

The time for hesitation has passed. The time for action is now. We must break the chains of economic dependence before they break us. We must reject the policies of financial servitude and embrace a new era of American strength. And we must do it not tomorrow, not in some distant future, but now, before the weight of our own obligations becomes too great to bear, before the decisions that shape our destiny are no longer ours to make. The Washington Union Plan is our declaration of economic independence, our commitment to ensuring that this nation remains free, remains strong, remains sovereign. The only question is whether we will rise to meet this moment or whether we will allow ourselves to be governed not by our own interests, but by the will of those who hold our debt.

We will choose strength. Not the illusion of strength, not the temporary relief of borrowed prosperity, not the fragile comfort of financial dependency disguised as stability. We will choose true strength—the kind that comes from standing on our own, from knowing that our economy is built not on foreign capital but on the wealth, the labor, the ingenuity of the American people. We will choose strength because no great nation has ever endured by allowing others to dictate the terms of its survival. We will choose strength because to do otherwise is to accept a future in which our policies are shaped not by the will of our people but by the demands of our creditors. As Alexander Hamilton warned, "A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one." We will not be such a nation.

We will choose sovereignty. Not as a slogan, not as an abstract ideal, but as the very foundation of our economic and political independence. We will no longer accept a system in which our government answers first to banks and foreign lenders before it answers to the citizens it was created to serve. We will no longer tolerate the erosion of our autonomy, the steady march toward financial servitude disguised as global economic integration. Sovereignty is not something to be negotiated. It is not something to be shared. It is something that must be secured, protected, and defended. And we will defend it—not with words, but with action.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." And yet here we are, the wealthiest nation on earth, drowning in obligations we may never fully repay, shackled by the decisions of a ruling class that sold our future for their convenience. We borrow trillions while our roads collapse, while our industries are dismantled, while the very economic engine that made us a global superpower is left to rust. This is not leadership. This is not strategy. This is self-inflicted decline, and it is a betrayal of every generation that fought to make this republic strong.

And in doing so, we will secure not only our economic future but the very foundation of American independence. For what is independence if not the ability to govern ourselves, to make decisions based on our own interests rather than the pressures of foreign capital? What is independence if not the power to shape our own destiny, to control our own wealth, to build our own prosperity without relying on the generosity or patience of others? A nation that is economically bound to its creditors is no more free than a man who lives at the mercy of his debtor. And we did not fight for independence, did not build the greatest economy in the world, did not rise to the heights of global leadership only to surrender that power through financial weakness.

John Adams declared, "There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt." America must never allow itself to be conquered—not by foreign armies, not by economic manipulation, not by the quiet and creeping force of dependency that renders us powerless in the face of those who would use our debt against us. We must rise above this moment, not with cautious half-measures, not with policies designed to delay rather than resolve the crisis, but with bold, decisive action that ensures that we are never again placed in a position where our financial stability is in the hands of those who do not wish us well.

We will reclaim what is ours. We will restore what has been lost. And we will ensure that this nation, this republic, this people, never again find themselves in a position where their future is not their own to decide. We will choose strength. We will choose sovereignty. And in doing so, we will secure not just our economy, not just our wealth, but our very identity as a nation that does not bow, that does not beg, that does not borrow its way into submission. We will lead, we will build, and we will reclaim the independence that is not simply our right, but our responsibility.

This is not just policy. This is the fight for America’s soul. The only question that remains is whether we will rise to meet this moment or whether we will allow ourselves to be governed not by our own interests, but by the will of those who hold our debt. History will judge what we do next. And we must ensure that history remembers us not as the generation that surrendered, but as the generation that stood, that fought, that reclaimed what was rightfully ours.

The time for illusions has ended. We have lived too long under the false comfort of borrowed wealth, mistaking debt for strength, allowing ourselves to believe that we could mortgage the future indefinitely without consequence. We have watched as foreign creditors tightened their grip on our economy, as multinational banks dictated our policies, as the institutions that once served the people transformed into unaccountable financial titans with no allegiance beyond their bottom line. We have been told that this is just the way of the world, that no nation can exist without borrowing from others, that this is the price of participation in the global economy. But the truth is far simpler, and far more damning: we are not in this position because we had no choice. We are in this position because we allowed it to happen.

A nation that controls its own economy controls its own future. That is not theory, that is history. That is the lesson taught by every great power that has ever risen and every empire that has ever fallen. The moment a nation allows its financial security to be dictated by external forces, the moment it becomes dependent on the wealth and goodwill of others, is the moment it begins to cede control over its own destiny. And we have reached that moment. We stand now at a crossroads where one path leads toward continued submission—continued dependence on foreign debt, continued obedience to global financial institutions, continued erosion of our national strength. The other leads to something greater: a nation that reclaims its power, that rebuilds its economic independence, that refuses to be held hostage by the very forces that seek to profit from its decline.

Make no mistake—this will not be an easy fight. There are those who benefit from our dependency, who grow wealthy from the system as it is, who will do everything in their power to ensure that we remain beholden to them. The lobbyists who shape our laws, the corporate executives who ship our jobs overseas, the financial institutions that gamble with our economy while expecting the American people to bear the cost of their failures—these are the ones who will resist change, not because they believe our current system is sustainable, but because they profit from the rot. They will tell us that reclaiming our financial sovereignty is reckless, that breaking free from the grip of foreign creditors will invite disaster, that true economic independence is an impossible fantasy. But let us ask them—impossible for whom? Not for the American worker, who has watched their wages stagnate while corporate profits soar. Not for the small business owner, who struggles to compete in a rigged economy where global banks dictate the terms of survival. Not for the people who have seen their communities hollowed out, their industries outsourced, their government prioritize the interests of financiers over the needs of its citizens. It is only impossible for those who refuse to let go of their own power.

This is a battle we cannot afford to lose. The moment we decide that dependency is acceptable is the moment we decide that decline is acceptable. We must reject this. We must recognize that economic sovereignty is not just about numbers on a balance sheet—it is about national security, about the ability of a government to act in the interest of its people rather than in fear of its creditors. It is about ensuring that our policies are dictated by those who live under them, not by those who profit from them at a distance. It is about restoring an America that stands on its own, that does not beg, that does not bow, that does not trade its future for the fleeting comforts of borrowed prosperity.

We must move with urgency. We must prioritize investment in American industry, ensuring that we are not dependent on foreign supply chains to sustain our economy. We must break the cycle of endless borrowing, returning to a system where growth is driven by productivity and innovation rather than by financial speculation and debt accumulation. We must hold accountable the financial institutions that have placed their own profits above the well-being of the nation, that have turned our economy into a playground for the wealthy while leaving the working class to struggle under the weight of policies designed to extract rather than uplift. And we must never again allow a situation in which the wealth of this nation is funneled away to serve the interests of those who would rather see America indebted than independent.

This is not just about the economy. This is about who we are as a nation. Are we a people who believe that our fate must be dictated by foreign creditors? That our industries must be controlled by those who have no stake in our future? That our government must answer to financial institutions before it answers to its own citizens? Or are we something more? Are we the America that built the greatest industrial power the world has ever seen? The America that rose from crisis after crisis not through dependence, but through resilience, through innovation, through the unwavering determination to stand on our own two feet?

We know the answer. We have always known the answer. The only question that remains is whether we will act on it. Whether we will rise to meet this moment, or whether we will allow ourselves to be ruled by the inertia of a system that has long since ceased to serve us. The Washington Union Plan is not just a strategy—it is a declaration. A declaration that we will not go quietly into decline. That we will not allow ourselves to be bought, to be owned, to be dictated to by those whose interests are not our own. That we will not wait for history to decide our fate—we will decide it for ourselves.

We will reclaim our economy. We will reclaim our sovereignty. And in doing so, we will ensure that this nation remains not just free, but powerful, not just stable, but strong, not just prosperous, but independent.