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\u00a0<\/p>\n
The national debt is now over $31 trillion. It was $21 trillion just five years ago. With the federal government going on such an obscene spending spree, is it any wonder everyone\u2019s savings are now being destroyed by inflation?<\/p>\n
Then consider that Social Security and Medicare are running out of money to sustain current benefits.<\/p>\n
No, that\u2019s not some right-wing talking point.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s straight from the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which pays retirement and survivors benefits, will be able to pay scheduled benefits on a timely basis until 2034, one year later than reported last year,\u201d they reported last year. \u201cAt that time, the fund\u2019s reserves will become depleted and continuing tax income will be sufficient to pay 77 percent of scheduled benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Likewise, \u201cThe Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, or Medicare Part A, which helps pay for services such as inpatient hospital care, will be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2028, two years later than reported last year. At that time, the fund\u2019s reserves will become depleted and continuing total program income will be sufficient to pay 90 percent of total scheduled benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Republicans under Speaker Kevin McCarthy vow to take on excessive spending, which in the short-term is setting up a fight over the federal debt ceiling. But, notably, House Republicans are for the most part vague about what exactly they intend to push for.<\/p>\n
There are obviously political risks and tradeoffs for members of Congress to support cuts (or tax increases) to get the national debt and ongoing deficits under control.<\/p>\n
Democrats are traditionally more likely to work to defend or expand non-military spending, while Republicans are more likely to work to defend or expand military spending. The easy thing for Republicans and Democrats to do is to compromise by supporting increases to both military spending and non-military spending. But that\u2019s exactly how the federal government got into this mess in the first place.<\/p>\n
Former President Donald Trump, under whose watch the national debt exploded even before the pandemic, has called on Republicans to oppose any effort to touch entitlements. \u201cUnder no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
OK, so the entitlement programs are off the table.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. has on the one hand said military spending should be on the table, but then elaborated that what he meant is, \u201c[M]aybe focus on getting rid of all the woke policies in our military, [so] we\u2019d have the money we need to make sure our troops get the pay raise they deserve, we have the weapons systems and the training that needs to be done, so we\u2019re ready to deal with our adversaries around the planet, that\u2019s what we want to focus on,\u201d Jordan said.<\/p>\n
Well, getting rid of \u201cwoke policies\u201d in the military won\u2019t fix the budget either.<\/p>\n
And no, appeals about cutting \u201cwaste, fraud and abuse\u201d won\u2019t cut it either. Everyone knows that\u2019s just a way for politicians to sound serious without doing anything.<\/p>\n
There are big things at stake here. It\u2019s time Congress gets serious about getting federal spending under control and governs in a fiscally responsible manner.<\/p>\n