The spending cuts you mention need to be done and done NOW. No more pussy footing around. It’s beyond me that our government believes that we can continue to spend more than it brings in and all the while, give our borrowed money back to the nations we borrowed if from and pay interest on it. It is said that we give our tax money to 150 countries around the world. We can no longer, nor should we, support the world when the majority of these countries hate us. Nor should we defend them with our military without them paying for that defense.
They are likely correct.
If the government issued debt the way a private company did, it would be OK. Debt issuance is a valid tool to fund capital projects with a life span exceeding the term of the note. As long as the debt has a sustainable dedicated revenue stream to pay it off, then a moderate “deficit” on an annual basis is a legitimate budget philosophy. For example, our town did a road expansion; the cost of the expansion was about 70% of our annual operating budget (excluding capital projects already funded). It’s not economical to pay for it out of current income, as the taxpayers cannot afford the hit, even if on a one-time basis. But spread out over 20 years when we get a road forever, bonding the road makes sense.
The federal government is issuing debt willy-nilly; it has no rational basis to what is being funded and is for all practical purposes, unlimited. I believe financial gurus have a term for that: “just plain nuts.”