There is a biblical admonition that the borrower is a slave to the lender, which is why generations have been warned privately and publicly about excessive debt. The U.S. government should take note.

America finds itself at a critical juncture in its history, grappling with historic inflation and other consequences of deficit spending with debt at 98% of our total economy. Recent history proves that unchecked deficit spending and excessive debt lead to severe consequences.

Italy’s sovereign debt crisis in 2011, for example, exposed the perils of relying on unsustainable borrowing. Italy faced skyrocketing borrowing costs, reduced access to credit markets, and a downward spiral of economic decline with unemployment reaching 12%. While the U.S. has not reached 12% unemployment, our addiction to borrowing, rampant inflation, and sky-high interest rates are setting up the perfect storm.

At the time of its fiscal collapse, Italy suffered from out-of-control interest payments and its debt-to-GDP ratio was at 120% — a level that is expected to hit the U.S. by 2033. Also in 2033, we are expected to pay $1.4 trillion in interest payments alone on our national debt — that’s money flushed down the toilet.

Miniscule efforts here at home to restrain borrowing just to pay for annual overspending are insufficient to prevent ultimate and severe hardship for the American people.

Ricardo Ries, professor of economics at the London School of Economics, reminds policymakers in a recent article published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that “public debt carries a risk of inflation … when debt is high, it may be tempting to let inflation rise.” The Biden administration and the Federal Reserve have fallen prey to this temptation. The American public is now suffering the severe consequences of high inflation, and as a result, household credit card debt has subsequently exploded to a high of nearly $1 trillion.

To this end, fellow Oklahoman and Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Kevin Hern and Budget and Spending Taskforce Chair Ben Cline (R-VA) have put forth a courageous budget that would balance the budget in seven years, cut spending by $16.3 trillion over 10 years, and reduce Americans’ taxes by $5.1 trillion over 10 years.

It is a bold plan, and, as President Ronald Reagan challenged Republicans almost 50 years ago, we need to be the party of “bold, unmistakable colors with no pale pastels” to turn our country away from a fiscal cliff.

To think America’s economic prowess could suffer the same fate as other countries have for overspending seems unimaginable. But as President Abraham Lincoln warned back in 1863, we must not become so “intoxicated with unbroken success” that we fail to realize that principles and virtue cannot be neglected even by a power like the United States without consequences.

Economic security is national security, and we cannot continue living beyond our means.

Josh Brecheen is a U.S. representative for Oklahoma, and Mike Mazzei is the former secretary of budget for Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.