The Sky\u2019s the Limit on Our $31.4 Trillion National Debt as Debt Ceiling Fight Looms<\/h2>\n
Published 7:13 am Monday, January 30, 2023<\/p>\n
\n <\/div>\n
- \n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lobservateur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2022\/06\/RRA-LATEST-Photo-08-22-2019-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-e1656283185324.jpg?w=284\")
<\/dt>\n- <\/dl>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Reckless borrowing and spending are what got us\u00a0into\u00a0this\u00a0fiscal mess\u00a0and more of the same won\u2019t get us out.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em>There is no sense in pointing fingers because both national parties have participated in the fiscal irresponsibility that has gotten us to this point.<\/p>\n
However,\u00a0now\u00a0our nation\u2019s\u00a0leaders are going to have to stop kicking the can down the road and actually address this\u00a0critical\u00a0economic and\u00a0national security\u00a0issue.<\/p>\n
Where are we?<\/p>\n
Right now, our national debt is approximately $31.4 trillion.\u00a0 The interest payment alone to support this monumental debt is $400 billion annually out of the American economy.\u00a0 That\u2019s merely to service the debt! \u00a0\u00a0None of the principal is being paid down.\u00a0 And this debt, which used to be justified with the feeble explanation that the debt \u201cis just money we (U.S.) owe ourselves\u201d is no longer true. \u00a0\u00a0If we stay on the path we are on now, by the early 2030s a majority of these interest payments will be annually transferred to foreign debt holders.<\/p>\n
As E.J. Antoni at the Heritage Foundation notes, these \u201cexploding annual deficits and debt are the direct result of runaway spending by a profligate Congress and president with no regard for Americans\u2019 financial security.\u201d<\/p>\n
He makes another critical point as well\u2014\u201cjust to emphasize that the burgeoning debt is a\u00a0spending<\/u>\u00a0problem and not a revenue problem, tax receipts are at a record high by any measure\u2014in nominal terms, in real terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product.\u00a0 The government has never collected more money, but is still managing to spend it all, and then some.\u201d (Emphasis added).<\/p>\n
That\u2019s insane\u00a0governmental malpractice,\u00a0but that\u2019s not all.<\/p>\n
President Biden has demanded a \u201cclean\u201d debt ceiling increase with no conditions or requirements attached.\u00a0 That\u2019s mind boggling.\u00a0 It\u2019s also reckless and will increase, not lessen, as Biden claims, the economic pain of average Americans.<\/p>\n
Every time\u00a0we raise the debt ceiling, and an enormous gusher of new debt dollars pours\u00a0into our national economy, we are increasing the level of inflation because way too many dollars are chasing\u00a0way\u00a0too few goods.<\/p>\n
However, as Daniel Heninger of the Wall Street Journal notes, this time the debt ceiling debate is different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic put the federal government inside everyone\u2019s head, and what the government did was spend, spend, spend, money, money, money. These spending rivers included a bipartisan Covid-relief bill of $2.2 trillion; the American Rescue Plan\u2019s $1.9 trillion, and then a bipartisan infrastructure bill of $1 trillion. Mr. Biden\u2019s 2023 budget proposal was for $5.7 trillion.\u00a0 In December he signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s simply an ocean of federal debt spending.<\/p>\n
But why is this time different?<\/p>\n
Because now, Henninger observes, \u201c\u2026Americans have one other mega-detail on their minds: an inflation spike that can\u2019t be separated from the spending spike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most Americans don\u2019t want to see the credit rating\u2014as well as our international prestige\u2014of the U.S. downgraded or weakened by the conclusion that America is going to default on its bills and obligations.\u00a0 However, most Americans are suffering acutely at the gas pump, grocery store and in virtually every aspect of their lives with the governmentally self-inflicted hidden tax of inflation which has dramatically shrunk the purchasing power of their dollars.<\/p>\n
So, if, and only if, the debt ceiling increase is agreed to, it\u00a0must\u00a0be linked to structural reforms\u00a0which actually begin the process of reducing the national\u00a0debt and the annual budget deficit so\u00a0that the nation\u2019s budget is placed on a trajectory\u00a0such\u00a0that\u00a0in the not-too-distant future, tax revenues are balanced with spending outlays, as is the case with the budget of every American family.<\/p>\n
These reforms should include programmatic funding cuts as well as the very reasonable capping of discretionary spending at fiscal year 2022 levels while simultaneously implementing pro-growth policies that serve to offset the debt ceiling increase.\u00a0 A great place to begin would be rescinding unspent Covid funds as well as the highly partisan trillion-dollar spending on Green New Deal \u201cprojects.\u201d<\/p>\n
What we are doing now\u2014brazenly defying the fiscal laws of gravity\u2014is utterly unsustainable.\u00a0\u00a0On a bipartisan basis, we must\u00a0quickly and permanently put our nation back on a path of fiscal responsibility\u00a0by\u00a0shrinking the size of the federal government and fostering an environment of economic freedom and growth.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n
Royal Alexander<\/em><\/p>\n
Royal Alexander Law Firm<\/strong><\/p>\n
P.O. Box 1837<\/strong><\/p>\n
Shreveport, LA 71166<\/strong><\/p>\n
Phone: (318) 344-7030<\/strong><\/p>\n
Fax: (318) 722-8001<\/strong>
<\/strong><\/p>\nRoyalAlexanderlawfirm@gmail.com<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n