Month: August 2024

Federal Debt: The Ticking Bomb in Your Wallet

Key Takeaways Grab your pay stub for June and see how much you paid in federal income tax…over 75% of that was effectively your contribution to interest on the debt last month. This is where our federal government is today. It has spent so much more than it has taken in that it has racked […]

Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma says U.S. is spending ‘faster than the speed of light’

Republican U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen held a town hall meeting at the Bartlesville Community Center last week, where he delivered an in-depth presentation on the nation’s fiscal state and the urgency of addressing federal spending. Brecheen, who represents Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, focused on the rise in national debt and its implications for the country’s […]

Social Security Spending Adds to the National Debt

At a recent congressional hearing, Representative Randy Feenstra (R‑IA) grilled witnesses on one fundamental point of disagreement regarding how Social Security works: Does Social Security spending add to the national debt? (Scroll down for the transcript of the exchange.) The answer is yes because the US government did not save any of the excess payroll taxes […]

Japan’s Lesson on Government Debt Levels

In case you missed it, the U.S. government’s total public debt outstanding surpassed $35 trillion on July 26, 2024. This amounts to over $102,350 for every person in the country, based on the population of 341,963,408 in 2024. On average, this would be more than $255,875 per household, assuming each household has 2.5 members. These figures may seem daunting, especially when top executives from financial […]

Trillion-Dollar Surprise in the Inflation Reduction Act

The national debt surpassed a mind-boggling $35 trillion last week — approximately $100,000 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States. This means a family of four’s share of public debt, ~$400,000, is likely more than they owe on the mortgage of their house. Runaway government spending is no surprise. What is […]

Debt – The Real Economic Catastrophe Will Be Caused by the U.S. Debt

The U.S. is headed for “the most predictable economic crisis in history,” as Bill Clinton’s former White House chief of staff once put it. Why? Because of the mountain of federal debt that we keep making bigger and bigger. For the first time since the wartime economy of the late 1940s, U.S. debt is roughly equal […]

There’s Nothing Conservative about Deficits and Debt

Republicans are marching towards a high-stakes November election. Alas, they seem to have left some important conservative principles behind. The 2024 GOP Platform is notable for what it omits: its lack of commitment to fiscal responsibility is a major oversight. Admittedly, Republican rhetoric has long exceeded Republican policy when it comes to spending restraint. The rhetorical change […]

Harris and Trump would both make the national debt worse

If the 2024 presidential election ever gets around to serious issues, you’re likely to hear a lot of happy talk from Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have a lot of plans for tax cuts and government giveaways, customized to please each candidate’s desired constituencies. Both candidates, however, are whistling […]

OPINION: Commentary: As America’s debt hits $35 trillion, candidates silent on deficits — Taylor Millard

America’s national debt hit a record $35 trillion last month. With no end in sight to deficit spending, economists warn that a fiscal crisis could be approaching. So why aren’t Vice President Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump talking about it? This year’s projected $1.9 trillion deficit is the largest on record outside of […]

The Federal Government Has Borrowed Trillions, But Who Owns all That Debt

At the end of 2023, the nation’s gross debt had reached nearly $34 trillion. Of that amount, about $27 trillion, or 79 percent, was debt held by the public — representing cash borrowed from domestic and foreign investors. The remaining $7.0 trillion (21 percent), was intragovernmental debt, which simply records transactions between one part of the […]