The National Debt, Redux

I haven't written about the national debt in a while. I wrote about it several times in my old blog, Alibiforignorance.blogspot.com. Just search for debt and you'll find a host of my scribblings.

You remember (the) Simpson-Bowles (Commission), don't you?

"The final plan, released on December 1, 2010 reduced the federal deficit by nearly $4 trillion, stabilizing the growth of debt held by the public by 2014, reduce debt 60% by 2023 and 40% by 2035. The deficit would be eliminated by 2035." (Thank you, Wiki.)

It wasn't implemented because it couldn't get a super majority in committee. Too bad. If you go to my aforementioned blog, search for the post "The National Debt... and Us." It's one of my best.

The gummint spent $1.45 TRILLION more than it took in from all sources in FY 2022.

In 1981, the national debt was $908 BILLION

Today, 2023, the national debt is $33 TRILLION

Now, we're OVERspending an amount that exceeds by 150% the amount of national debt the yeyar my daughter was born. In other words, within living memory

NB: There's not enough money IN THE WORLD to pay off our debt.

If you owed someone more than you could pay, what would you do? Maybe you would sell some of your assets, the ones your creditors want the most. Your vacation home, your second Tesla, your gold bars (Thank you, Sen. Menendez). Anything to stave off hungry creditors.

What has President Biden done? Well, he sold off land near our military bases, or allowed it to be sold, in violation of national policy. He (and some of his forebearers) have looted the Federal Pension Reserve. There was real money there but they promised to repay it. How's that going, federal pensioners? Seen any repayments? He and Congress have done NOTHING to cut back on discretionary spending.

They can, of course. They just won't. Remember the money you couldn't repay? Well, you could cut down your discretionary spending, couldn't you? Wouldn't that free up some cash? Why can't the gummint do that? Well, the first thing you'll hear is that a large part of gummint money is untouchable. Nice touch, that.

But not ALL of the gummint's money is untouchable. They can cut back on SOME of it, can't they? Yes, they can, but they won't. Don't see the need. They might want to give some of it away to buy votes in swing states. Keep your eye out for large sums of money going to swing states in the next 14 months. You'll know why. 

You'll also see government agencies scrambling to spend any leftover money in their budget. Have to, they say, or they might not get as much next year. 'Oh, dear, our budget might get cut. Can't have that. SPEND!"

Stay tuned. I'm going to post something about MY plan for reducing the national debt. Until next time, I'm your humble correspondent.