Posted on 08/02/2019 8:42:46 AM PDT by Liberty7732
We should not be sleeping well at night, but not for the reasons you are thinking.
Yes, there is the threat of socialism and open borders and unnecessarily fanned racial strife amongst other general insanities. But there is the reality that every single year we are binding our children as indentured servants. Right now. It’s happening. And it is shameful.
You may not have seen it, but D.C. is entering into another irresponsible and immoral budget agreement where the politicians, the bureaucrats and the D.C. establishment get what they want — and future Americans get the shaft.
I warned that “draining the swamp” was going to be far, far bigger than a single president or a single election. It will take a change of who we send to Washington on an ongoing basis, which means that Americans need to think differently than we’ve been trending. That’s a tall order and it’s a challenge to be optimistic about it.
Even after promising last year to never again bust the budget in a compromise agreement that piles on the debt, President Trump appears ready to do just that with the support of both Republicans and Democrats. When everyone agrees on spending, you know that the American taxpayer is about to get nailed — or more specifically, future taxpayers. But hey, it’s for two years, which pushes it past the next election as per the normal arrangement, so the hacks get to skate on the issue.
Yet it appears that by all polls, the national debt barely ever even shows up even at the bottom, and probably the number of views this article will likely get, that no one really gives a rat’s hiney about the budget and the debt. It’s just not all sexy and loud and Us versus Them. Too bad. Because eventually it’s fatal. And it’s immediately immoral.
I keep using that word. It does mean what I think it means.
In 2018, the per capita debt for Americans was $65,600 — about 50 percent more the national average income for a year. So if you took all of everyone’s income for an entire year, you wouldn’t come close to erasing the debt — plus you wouldn’t fund the government that year. And everyone would die.
But worse, it was $62,100 in 2017. For every trillion-dollar annual deficit, the per capita debt load increases about $3,400 per year. That actually does come due, and it won’t be Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell paying it. So by the end of this budget deal, the debt per capita will be $72,400 — $10,000 more per person than in 2017.
Yes. That’s immoral.
Of course this comes about because of the decades of irresponsible spending and spending and spending, and the constant brinkmanship of the Continuing Resolutions that allow for larded up pork projects and no cuts because of the threat of a government shutdown. The GOP should have figured out by now that the shutdown issue is a media creation that virtually no Americans outside of some government employees and contractors notice even with the incessant media coverage.
And there is the deadline for the U.S. missing debt payments in September because of the spending cap, which is obviously not worth the piece of paper it was scribbled on in crayon as they just lift it every year, or in this case, every other year. The budget is not about spending or taxing, it’s about whether we use the “crisis” of a government shutdown or the “crisis” of not making a debt payment that requires whatever spending free-for-all we have to swallow.
Here’s the gist of yet another horrible deal.
The spending increase that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to would raise current budget caps by $320 billion over two years. The increase is a paltry $30 billion less than Democrats sought. They got 90 percent of what they wanted.
Further, Noah Rothman wrote on Bloomberg: “If split evenly over two years, that would equal a $17 billion increase for defense and $17 billion increase for domestic programs in 2020 over 2019 levels, giving Democrats the parity they sought for increases in both categories of spending.”
The Trump team wanted to partially offset the increases with savings from entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid that are not subject to annual budget caps. But of course, that did not happen. And don’t be fooled by the $320 billion number. That is the budget cap issue. The deficit is expected to be about $1 trillion each year. Because the Swamp always wins.
So the Democrats got essentially everything they wanted. This is what I meant when saying that one election of one president could not change the corruption level of the D.C. establishment.
But whatevs — just another trillion dollars dumped on our children and grandchildren while we debate the really big issues of rats in Baltimore, Trump’s tweets and who had the best sound bite at the Demcorat debates.
A few lonely Republicans have remained opposed to the irresponsible spending.
“I paid off a third of the state debt when I was governor of Florida,” Sen. Rick Scott said on CNBC Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s vote. “There’s no focus up here on the debt. We can’t have $22 trillion worth of debt and growing a trillion dollars a year and it not have a consequence at some point.”
That’s right. But obviously we’re doing it anyway. The vote was 67-28. Scott went on.
“We’ve got to have a legitimate conversation about how do we spend our money up here, let’s stop the waste, let’s live within our means, we do it at the state level,” he said. “I paid off $10 billion worth of debt and cut $10 billion worth of taxes. We cut 20 percent of our regulations. And we added 1.7 million jobs. This is all doable, but you’ve got to make choices. Up here what happens is everyone gets everything, so there’s no tough choices made.”
But even Scott, when pushed gently, would not name the big dogs in the debt — the ever-growing entitlement trifecta of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. We can eliminate entire agencies and squeeze out waste, fraud and abuse, but it won’t close the trillion-dollar annual gap. The Swamp knows what needs to be done, and has no intention of doing it.
No, we should not be sleeping well at night. We are loading up our offspring to pay off debts they did not incur.
GREAT article. Thanks.
Grandpa, why did you put us so much in debt?
If you want a balanced budget, you, the voter, are going to have to get it on the ballot because no politician would ever support it.
This covers it, and it’s quite entertaining. It’s why I think we are screwed no matter who is president. We passed the point of a human solution to this a long time ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlN28DoL5qA
And yes, even the video points out the impact on our children - those born over a decade ago...
As Donald Trump says, “Yeah, but I won’t be here” when the debt comes due.
Let the Spanish speaking people that Flimsey Grahamnesty wants to give the country to pay the debt, LOL!
Ha! I was thinking the same thing.
A letter from our grandchildren
The World will eventually do what Iceland did, RESET!-)
I agree. But I don’t think it will be voluntary. Any politician that recommends what is necessary would never win election.
People don’t get elected without bringing home the bacon. And getting the widgets for another state and not your own, is an example.
I live in Washington State. Do I care to have my federal tax dollars cover a federal park in Colorado? But if my senator was able to barter cash to improve the local college for my kids, does he then qualify for my vote?
Trump can be allowed to oversee the property. But he has no say on the wildlife that lives there. And most of them would like to bite him and each other for territory. Seems basic, huh? And maybe I brought it down to our level of existence. (And peck order)
rwood
“Of course this comes about because of the decades of irresponsible spending and spending and spending, and the constant brinkmanship of the Continuing Resolutions that allow for larded up pork projects and no cuts because of the threat of a government shutdown.”
Actually, it’s because of entitlement programs, which are by far the largest part of the budget, and constantly growing.
The selfish voters will never give up their goodies, though, so we are thoroughly screwed.
its insanity and its obscene.....
taxes paid for the little serfs to give to the party people....
as far as the tax burden for our children, I truly believe that it is our obligation to leave some legacy for our children as far as inheritance...its an old world concept that we should abide, since we've managed to screw up this world so badly....
for us, it will be something but not a lot, but it will be something...
you mean I was "entitled" to pay into SS in the 45 yrs I worked, and btw STILL WORKING AT AGE 65 and finally will start collecting this month....
see I didn't know I was entitled, just like I didn't know I had white privilege....it all seemed like just work to me....
BUDGET-F,
BUILDING NEW SECTIONS OF WALL; BRINGING PUBLIC OFFICIALS WHO ARE COMPLICIT IN AIDING AND ABETTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION TO JUSTICE-F,
LOCKING UP POWERFUL POLITICAL CRIMINALS, RULE OF LAW, EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW-F,
FEDERAL POWERS AND TENTH AMENDMENT-F
So why is Trump signing it? What does HE get out of it.
“you mean I was “entitled” to pay into SS”
You didn’t pay anything “into SS”. You paid a tax. The government spent that money as soon as they got it, on the general budget, just like all the other taxes.
“finally will start collecting this month”
Count yourself lucky that you actually get to collect benefits while the system is still solvent. Me, and tens of millions of others who have to pay the same tax, will never see a penny. Oh well, maybe I am just a big ingrate for not being cheerful at having this great opportunity to be forced to join the bottom row of the pyramid scheme that is inevitably going to bankrupt the nation.
The boulders are on our backs. Many of the “kids” are still living in mom’s basement.
The state wide tax creation of bottled water increases is a state problem, not federal. And until the “swamp” called King County is drained we will have a steady supply of liberal taxes to feed their dependent bodies they have created as votes.
I don’t abide by inheritance concepts as we can only do what we have the capabilities to. But the children you talk abut are not mine, they are everyone else’s and I can’t afford them. And we didn’t screw this up. This started over a hundred years ago when we didn’t have a say in it and don’t have much of one at the moment because of the Pelosi house control.
And between Clinton and Obama “gutting” the military budget alone, that’s a lot to make up for our basic protection. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m not interested in trying to reduce the debt for our children, I’m more worried about financial survival before they leave the crib.
rwood
I hope you’re right. But when the interest on the national debt equals the GDP, turn the lights out. It’s not the far away.
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