Hillary Clinton writes in The New York Times that Republican insistence to link any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling to spending control and cuts threatens our national security.
“It’s a sad irony that Mr. McCarthy and many of the same congressional Republicans seemingly intent on sabotaging America’s global leadership by refusing to pay our debts are also positioning themselves as tougher-than-thou China hawks.”
Clinton is right that our enemies, Russia and China, see America today as weak and are using the opportunity to strengthen their influence around the world.
But the reason they see the supposed leader of the free world as weak is not because America refuses to “pay our debts.”
Russia and China see our nation as fiscally and morally corrupt, and they are right.
Whether we’re speaking about a nation, or an individual, absence of self-discipline is a sign of weakness.
The only words that capture fiscal reality in our country today are “profligate” and “undisciplined.”
The Congressional Budget Office projects $2 trillion deficits over the next decade. It projects national debt, today equal to 100% of our GDP, to reach a record 118% of GDP in 2033 and, by 2053, almost twice the size of GDP.
Average federal spending, per CBO, over the last 30 years, from 1972 to 2022, was 20.9% of GDP. In 2023, it is projected to reach 23.7% of GDP and by 2033, 25.3%.
Yet, this does not seem to bother President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats at all.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and fellow Republicans are putting on the table a plan to at least start getting our fiscal house in order, but Biden has noted he has zero interest in any conversation. He wants unconditional agreement to raise, once again, the nation’s debt ceiling.
Why does it even matter that we should get things under control? Many important reasonsOne, the more that fruits of our hard work are diverted to government rather than productive and creative use in the private marketplace, national productivity suffers. We’re already seeing the results of this.
As economist and blogger Scott Grannis has pointed out, the U.S. economy grew annually 3.1% per year from 1950 to 2007. Since then, average growth has been 2.2% per year. Economist Steve Moore at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity estimates that this one percentage point drop in annual GDP growth, due to more and bigger government, has lopped off about $15,000 in median family income. If we had continued the 3.1% growth, the average American would have some 22% higher income, per Moore.
Second, we’ve just gone through a period experiencing the ravages of inflation, the direct result of government spending and pouring increasing amounts of money into the marketplace that are not backed up by productive resources.
Third, higher interest costs. A byproduct of inflationary pressure is increasing interest rates. Higher rates translate into ever-increasing interest costs on our debt burden in the federal budget. The CBO projects that in 10 years, in 2033, interest costs in the federal budget will reach 3.6% of GDP. If defense spending remains around where it is today, interest costs in the federal budget will exceed defense spending.
Which takes us back to Clinton’s laughable claim that the Republican push for some fiscal responsibility threatens national security.
Republicans want to reset the federal budget baseline to 2022 and limit increases over the next 10 years to 1% per year. Total savings would be $4 trillion over 10 years.
This can be described as a dose of prudence. It certainly can’t be called draconian.
But prudence is the last thing our irresponsible president wants to hear about. He and his party want a blank check on the earning power of the American people.
But, as Margaret Thatcher once said, sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
“Hillary Clinton writes in The New York Times that Republican insistence to link any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling to spending control and cuts threatens our national security.”,,,Like trashing the value of our dollar to the point other nations will seek another world economic trading currency will not threaten our national security, particularly when military replacement parts and technology farmed overseas gets stuck in a locked up currency pipeline and scarcities appear faster than our toilet paper disappeared during covid? The Clintons and Bidens made their millions already at the expense of WE THE PEOPLE paying their freight. Jail sentences for their economic treason along with total dismemberment of their crime family fortunes would have them all singing a different tune. Soros destroyed the British pound in similar currency manipulation and National British debt and they have never recovered as a world power. It’s the same game plan using the Biden and Clinton crime family American sell-outs. When all you can do is buy politicians when trying to buy your way out of financial crisis, your wealth will soon be socially redistributed to the crime families on a national basis, and you can kiss your kid’s futures goodbye. The next time Joe and Hillary speak about raising our debt they should have their tongues cut out and fed to the pigs, but then guys like Hunter will only get fatter.
But prudence is the last thing our irresponsible president wants to hear about. He and his party want a blank check on the earning power of the American people.
But, as Margaret Thatcher once said, sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.
Net interest payments on the national debt rose from $352 billion in 2021 to $475 billion in 2022 — the highest nominal dollar amount in recorded history.
And the Democrat Party wants to put us MORE in debt and pay more Billions in just interest on the debt.
CAN WE the people vote for our OWN DEBT ceiling increase?
NO.
SO WHY The hell can congress?
It was his nap time !! Did anyone check his Depends ??