Surprise: Feds using gifts earmarked to pay down national debt for more spending

“I love my country. I don’t want it in debt like this. I don’t want it having a financial crisis,” said Jane Olive, a retired teacher in Las Vegas who sent $100 to the PO box this month.

But the contributions don’t specifically go to pay off existing debt. The government deposits them in the Treasury Department’s general fund, in essence the government’s main checking account…

Chuck Landenberger, 79, a retired postal worker in Hawaii whose father lobbied Congress to pass the law enabling the public to make the gifts, was also dismayed.

“There should not be that money available for the Congress to spend after the contributor has said, ‘I want it to reduce the debt,’ ” he said.