The US Federal Debt

14.8 yrs
~ 1 week, 0 days ago

The US Federal Debt

Has now reached $40 trillion dollars. Unbelievable. However, some historical data:
January 20, 2017: $19.95 trillion
January 20, 2021: $27.8 trillion;
January 20, 2025: $36.22 trillion
Yesterday: $40 trillion.
Granted, some of the increases were due to COVID checks and spending to recover from it, from both DJT's 1st term and Biden's term. In 19 months, it's gone up just less than $4 trillion. Could it have gone up less if tax cuts weren't made? If $12 trillion or so of investments are happening in America (POTUS had constantly raised the amounts) how soon will we see it?
Article link:
apnews.com/article/t reasury-national-deb t-limit-a27a8d3651ff 810b25c610d3e1b
(Excerpt in screen shot, sorry)

Now, if by chance, the Democrats take control of either or both Houses of Congress, when it comes time to raising the debt limit, or any budget or major bill passed, I'm sure the GOP will jump up and down, yell, scream, whine that spending need drastically cut, federal debt must be addressed, annual deficit needs cut, etc., or they won't give their votes. Which is hypocritical because the GOP chose not to control how much the WH was spending on various projects that Congress SHOULD HAVE had a say in before the expenditures were done, or an actual plan on ending the War in Iran.
Kind of hard for the Legislative branch to stand up to the Executive Branch when many GOP are afraid or simply let DJT do what he wants, no matter what it costs.

My opinion and mine alone and not my employer's.

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Replies:

19.7 yrs
~ 6 days ago

*Edited

The Bush tax cuts and the DJT tax cuts have been the primary drivers of deficit spending. When Bill Clinton left office, we were running a surplus, paying down ahead of schedule the national debt. It was night and day when the Bush tax cuts went into effect. We immediately went from surplus to rapidly growing deficits. Bush might be forgiven for passing them during a recessionary period ostensibly to boost the economy. Trump's tax cuts occurred during a period of affluence and record low unemployment. The deficit leaped to record heights and strong case could be made that those cuts were a core driver for the inflation that took off in 2021...

In 2020 Trump presided over the greatest deficit spending margin in history. During the Biden administration it marched downward. Since Trump returned to office, the deficit margin is soaring once again. It may be that by 2028 that Trump will have presided over 8/10 years of the greatest deficit margins.

It is totally on brand for Trump. Deficit spending has defined his career as a serial defaulter and serial bankruptcy's . During his campaign in 2015 he spoke openly of intentionally defaulting on the debt. In that vein he talked of selectively and pointedly refusing to honor treasuries held by certain nations like China.

He has spoken openly of one off large wealth tax extractions to pay off the debt. He has remarked admiringly of the ability of governments to just seize people's assets. The U.S. has done this before. It's not unique to other world powers. There is talk today of Putin doing this very thing in Russia as it struggles in Ukraine.

Unless by some stroke of luck the Democrats achieve some super majority, I don't seen much changing before 2028. Washington will just be consumed by hearings... and threats...

DennisinPeoria reacted