I have yet another dumb question: If the US can’t service its debt, wouldn’t ceasing to issue more debt be the responsible thing to do?
An extremely sane question which the media will never ask
Stopping the spending beyond your means is the first step. But they have to continually “roll over” the existing debt.
What Clinton did back in the 90’s was to restructure our debt profile and how we use debt. In essence, he moved the payment of expenses to longer term bonds. This is akin to paying all of your living expenses with a credit card. This works until the cost of servicing the debt shoots up. Then you are screwed.
Long term debt should be used for capital expenditures, not short term expenses.
Anyone “shocked” by this hasn’t been paying attention. And they haven’t been paying attention for at least 35 years.
This isn’t an R or D problem. This is a “politician” problem.