Tag: debt

Three Lies They’re Telling You About The Debt Ceiling

Negotiations over increasing the federal debt ceiling continue in Washington. As has occurred several times over the past twenty years, Republicans and Democrats are presently using increases in the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip in negotiating how federal tax dollars will be spent.

Most of this is theater. We know how these negotiations always end: the debt ceiling is always increased, massive amounts of new federal debt are incurred, and federal spending continues its upward spiral. In fact, since the last time we endured a major debate over the debt ceiling—back in 2013—the national debt has nearly doubled, soaring from $16.7 trillion ten years ago to $32 trillion in 2023. Over that same period, federal spending has increased more than 80 percent from $3.4 trillion in fiscal year 2013 to $6.2 trillion in fiscal year 2022. 

So here we are again with policymakers essentially discussing how long it will take for the national debt and federal budget to double again. As far as Washington is concerned, that’s all fine. The debt ceiling will rise sizably. We know this because what really matters—as far as DC policymakers are concerned—is that the taxpayer gravy train never stops. Equally important is that the federal government not default on any of its massive debt to ensure continued access to cheap debt—and thus massive amounts of deficit spending—now and forever. 

To take this narrative at face value, however, we have to buy into some big myths that policymakers are quite enthusiastic about repeating.

These lies persist because the regime needs to convince the voters and the taxpayers that no matter what happens, no major changes to the tax-and-spend status quo can ever be allowed to occur.

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America’s Wars and the US Debt Crisis

In the year 2000, the U.S. government debt was $3.5 trillion, equal to 35% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2022, the debt was $24 trillion, equal to 95% of GDP. The U.S. debt is soaring, hence America’s current debt crisis. Yet both Republicans and Democrats are missing the solution: stopping America’s wars of choice and slashing military outlays.

Suppose the government’s debt had remained at a modest 35% of GDP, as in 2000. Today’s debt would be $9 trillion, as opposed to $24 trillion. Why did the U.S. government incur the excess $15 trillion in debt?

The single biggest answer is the U.S. government’s addiction to war and military spending. According to the Watson Institute at Brown University, the cost of U.S. wars from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2022 amounted to a whopping $8 trillion, more than half of the extra $15 trillion in debt. The other $7 trillion arose roughly equally from budget deficits caused by the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Feds borrowed $4 billion per day in 2022, totaling $10K per household

Federal debt soared by $1.4 trillion in 2022 as President Joe Biden and Congress approved multiple new spending packages.

The Congressional Budget Office this month released the final details of federal spending in 2022 showing the federal government had a $1.4 trillion deficit last year, borrowing roughly $82 billion in December alone.

“This is not a pretty picture no matter how you look at it,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “There are times to borrow – like during a pandemic or major recession – and there are times where we should ratchet down the borrowing, like now when the economy is strong and inflation is hot.”

MacGuineas pointed out last year’s borrowing totals more than $10,000 per household and $4 billion per day.

The federal debt surpassed $31 trillion in the fall.

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Biden Plans To Cancel $10,000 In Student Debt Per Borrower Ahead Of Midterms 

As soon as this weekend, President Biden could announce a plan to cancel $10k in student debt per borrower, according to WaPo, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. 

Biden could make the announcement at the University of Delaware’s commencement ceremony on Saturday. The plan would apply to Americans who earned less than $150k in the previous year or less than 300k for married couples filing jointly. 

On April 6, the White House announced it would extend the pause of federal student loan repayments through August 31. It wasn’t clear if the administration would extend the moratorium beyond this. 

The decision to wipe out $10k of student debt per borrow who meets requirements comes as President Biden’s approval ratings collapse. 

Notice how the number of stories in the news of “student debt loan forgiveness” is soaring ahead of the midterms, but Biden’s polling numbers remain cratered. 

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan think tank, said canceling $10k of student debt per borrower would cost a whopping $230bln. 

WaPo said, “most of the nation’s 41 million student borrowers stand to benefit.” Though, who exactly benefits? 

Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius found canceling the debt would mainly benefit middle- and upper-income households, contrary to the administration’s claims it would help the working poor. 

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US Borrowing Money From China to Fund Ukraine: Sen. Rand Paul

The United States can’t afford to send money to Ukraine without borrowing from China and taking on more debt to finance its obligations, said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a May 18 interview on the Breitbart News Daily Podcast.

On May 16, a bipartisan majority of U.S. senators voted to advance a $40 billion Ukraine aid package over an earlier objection from Paul. The Senate is on track for final consideration of the bill sometime later this week and is expected to pass the legislation.

“I think it’s important to know that we don’t have any money to send. I mean, we have to borrow the money from China to send it to Ukraine,” Paul explained. “And I think most people kind of get that, and many Republicans will say that and understand it when it’s a new social program, but if it’s military aid to a country, they’re like, ‘Well, we can borrow that. That’s a justified borrowing.’”

Currently, the U.S. national debt is inching toward $30.5 trillion, with annual federal spending outpacing annual federal revenue by over $2 trillion. To continue to fund obligations appropriated by Congress, the United States has to take on debt, much of which is purchased by Chinese buyers.

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Rashida Tlaib Made the Case On the House Floor on Why You Should Pay Her Student Loan Debt…No Really

Radical left darling and squad member, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, took the time yesterday to make a presentation on the House floor about why we should “cancel student loan debt.” The kicker was that she actually used herself as a prime candidate for wiping the slate clean.

The video, posted by The Hill, features Tlaib waxing tragic about how she accumulated student loan debt and was having a hard time paying it off because instead of going into high paying jobs, she was doing the important work of political activism and shouting “impeach the mother f***er” to crowds.

While a good retooling in the educational system and its costs would do our nation well, what Tlaib is asking for is not that all the student loan debt is wiped away. That can’t happen. That money has to come in from somewhere in order to pay the cost.

What she’s asking for is that you pay her bill like some kind of sugar daddy.

She wants to pass the costs off to taxpayers who never agreed to take on the debt in the first place, effectively paying for something she chose to do. It really doesn’t help her case that Tlaib makes far more money than most people in America do thanks to her bloated congressional salary of $175,000 a year. As Jazz Shaw noted in his article about this, that puts Tlaib in the top 8 percent of American households in terms of salary earnings.

So it’s a relatively well-off woman advocating to force you, a taxpayer who statistically makes less than she does, to foot the bill for a degree you didn’t agree for her to have, nor agree to pay for.

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