Category Archives: Debt and deficits

Debate questioners, please ask this

Debt and deficits, Elections, Politics

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billionBy Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

“As president, what would you do to balance the federal budget and reduce the national debt?”

That’s a simple, straightforward question about an important issue affecting every American. So it’s odd it hasn’t been asked once in 14 hours of Democratic presidential debates this year.

The candidates have been asked 374 questions so far, according to Fix the Debt, a project of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Not once have they been asked about the federal government spending $984 billion this past fiscal year that it did not have. That’s almost $3,000 for every American man, woman and child. Uncle Sam spent $4.446 trillion but only collected $3.462 trillion. The candidates have not been asked about the cumulative national debt, accrued over centuries, now being almost $23 trillion, or more than $69,500 for every American. They have not been asked about how to address the looming shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare.

The lack of questions is illustrative of the country’s collective blind eye regarding these inconvenient truths. The United States has been in debt since the Revolutionary War, except for a brief period in the 1830s when it paid everything off. But the debt has been growing exponentially in recent years. It took 210 years to reach $5.67 trillion by Sept. 20, 2000. The debt has grown $17.27 trillion since then. It was a little less than $20 trillion the day President Trump took office. It’s grown about $3 trillion in less than three years.

And yet the debt registers so little on the public consciousness that debate questioners haven’t felt compelled to ask a single question about it. It’s a problem but not a crisis – yet – and there’s always another crisis calling for immediate attention. We all know we can’t keep spending money we don’t have forever, but we also know we can probably keep doing it a while longer. So we’ll talk about something else for now. Continue reading Debate questioners, please ask this →

Don’t tell them what comes after trillion

Debt and deficits, Politics, U.S. Congress

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigration, $98.8 trillion, $970 billionBy Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

While the nation’s attention was divided between President Trump’s back-and-forth with Democratic congresswomen and Robert Mueller’s upcoming testimony, negotiators this week crafted a deal that may “end up being the worst budget agreement in our nation’s history.”

That description came from Maya McGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The agreement was reached by President Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and it was announced by an enthusiastic Trump tweet.

The deal suspends the federal debt ceiling until July 31, 2021 – after next year’s election. Suspending the ceiling wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing under other circumstances; frankly, we probably need to ditch it permanently. It accomplishes no purpose other than creating periodic crises that rattle financial markets and make the United States look like it can’t get its act together.

The problem is the deal eliminates spending limits created in 2011 that actually did slow the national debt’s growth a little. Since those will be gone, we’ll spend an additional $320 billion over the next two years on both defense and non-defense expenditures – paid for by borrowing, as always. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says the deal could add as much as $1.7 trillion to the national debt over a decade. Continue reading Don’t tell them what comes after trillion →

How Uncle Sam’s debt costs you money

Debt and deficits

By Steve Brawner

© 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

June 27, 2019

Those of us who preach against the national debt often warn of a coming economic calamity, which obviously is falling on deaf ears. Politicians aren’t inclined to address future problems occurring after the next election, and voters don’t punish them for it.

So let’s try a new approach: There’s a cost to the national debt, and you and I pay part of it.

That reality was reflected in a report released this week by the Congressional Budget Office, “The 2019 Long-Term Budget Outlook.”

Let’s cover some basic facts first. Continue reading How Uncle Sam’s debt costs you money →

Disasters happen. Let’s budget for them.

Debt and deficits, Politics

By Steve Brawner, © 2019 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

June 4, 2019

Congress and the president are passing a $19.1 billion federal disaster package that has one glaring problem: As usual, we’re paying for it by credit card.

The bill passed the House Monday, 354-58, after passing the Senate last month, 85-8. It was headed to the president, who will sign it. It will be used to respond to recent natural disasters, including hurricanes, floods in the Midwest, and wildfires in California. It includes additional money for Puerto Ricans – American citizens, it should never be forgotten – who are still recovering from Hurricane Rita in 2017.

The package includes $3 billion for military bases and Coast Guard facilities, $3 billion for farmers, and spending that’s meant to reduce the effects of future disasters. It started out as a $7.8 billion package last year.

All six members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation voted yes, as most did. Members of Congress don’t like to vote against disaster funding because they know their state might be the next to need help. Arkansas’ turn surely is coming after this spring’s historic flooding. Continue reading Disasters happen. Let’s budget for them. →