Posted on 09/17/2024 10:29:10 AM PDT by John Semmens
Right now, the trillion dollars per year interest payments on federal debt exceed the entire budget of the Department of Defense. Former President Trump warns "this will bankrupt the country. We won't have the money to pay for anything else--no roads, no schools, no military, no medical care. We desperately need the government efficiency commission I have proposed for my second term."
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen called Trump's warning "unduly pessimistic. The federal government is not limited in the same way that a household or business is limited when it comes to acquiring the money it needs to fund itself. First of all, we can always issue more debt. Federal debt is considered the most secure debt in the world. Investors will always lend us more money because they know we can easily repay them."
"One way we can repay debt is by creating more money," Yellen pointed out. "There are no limits on the amount of new money that can be generated using this power. A second way we can repay debt is by raising taxes. We can pass laws that require businesses and households to pay a larger share of what the earn and own to the government. Businesses and households don't have the authority to create more money or to simply seize the money they need to keep operating. They can go bankrupt, but the federal government never will."
Trump argued that "issuing more debt, creating more money, or raising taxes will increase interest rates that will make it impossible for Secretary Yellen's so-called remedies to work. The amounts owed will grow faster than our economy can afford. The higher interest rates will hamper economic growth. Businesses will lay off workers. Workers won't be able to afford the cost of living. Government revenues will shrink. It'll be a death spiral for our country."
Yellen insisted "it'll never come to that. Government has the sovereign power to repudiate its debt. Since most of this debt is owed to big corporations and foreign governments the richest will bear the brunt of the burden. The middle class and poor will ultimately benefit from the cancellation of this debt just like the college students who benefited when President Biden canceled their debt. In fact, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index ticked up to 92.6 for Democrats showing that the Harris/Walz campaign of joy is producing results that weird Republicans can't even imagine. There's no reason for anyone to be afraid."
In related news, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young announced the Biden Administration's opposition to Rep. Dan Newhouse's (R-Wash) bill to restrict China's purchase of US land. "There is no need to antagonize China in this way," she said. "This bill also interferes with a property owner's right to sell. What if a property owner needs cash to meet other expenses? The federal government owns 640 million acres of land. Sale of this land to raise revenue to cover the government's expenses could prove essential if other sources of revenue are inadequate. Sale of federal land was a key part of the revenue stream in the early years of this country's existence. We shouldn't cut it off when it might be needed again."
If you missed any of the other Semi-News/Semi-Satire posts you can find them at...
https://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,541579.0.html
Maybe cut Congressional wages in half and they pay their own expenses outside of Washington. If Harris is elected, she will bankrupt Social Security totally.
Yellen talks from all sides of her mouth.
-Can sell bonds to cover expenses
-Can print all the money we need
-Can raise individual & corp taxes
-Can repudiate (cancel) debt, as Biden did
-Can seize assets as needed
Inflation will rage and options 4 & 5 will be their out...for a while longer.
Yes, they can repudiate (seize) SS & Medicare payments. The same for any federal payments, selectively.
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