Posted on 09/12/2024 4:53:10 PM PDT by george76
Unsustainable. The country is going bankrupt. Trump is the only path forward.
CBO: Federal Interest Payments Now Exceed Defense Spending...
Federal Debt: The Ticking Bomb in Your Wallet..
Grab your pay stub .. and see how much you paid in federal income tax…over 75% of that was effectively your contribution to interest on the debt ..
This is where our federal government is today. It has spent so much more than it has taken in that it has racked up a $35 trillion debt.
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over 75% of that was effectively your contribution to interest on the debt last month. No roads, schools, military or hospitals—just interest. Houston, we have a problem.
For the first time ever, the government spent $140 billion in a single month to service its gargantuan debt of nearly $35 trillion. By the end of this fiscal year, the Treasury will spend almost $1.2 trillion in interest alone. And the problem is getting worse.
For June, not a single line item in the Treasury’s monthly statement was larger than the $140 billion interest expense. It was larger than either the Social Security Administration ($129 billion), Department of Health and Human Services ($90 billion), Department of Education ($87 billion) or Department of Defense ($63 billion).
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Not only is the nation drowning in debt, but now the interest payments are an anchor around its neck.
Federal finance can seem a bit ephemeral, so let’s put this in terms of family finances. Imagine a family has racked up more credit-card debt than it earns in an entire year. Those cards had low introductory interest rates, so even as their debt ballooned, the monthly interest payments seemed manageable. But then, rates rose—and so did the finance charges.
Because the family spends more than they earn each month (hence the massive credit card debt), any additional expenses only exacerbate their financial nightmare. Higher interest is just another expense that must be financed, which means their outstanding balances will now grow that much faster.
Of course, higher balances mean higher finance charges, and the debt doom loop has begun. The family has no way out other than severe spending cuts in their budget or an ignominious bankruptcy.
This is where our federal government is today. It has spent so much more than it has taken in that it has racked up a $35 trillion debt. It’s not only many times larger than annual federal tax revenue, but over 20% larger than the nation’s entire economy.
One key difference, however, between the family budget and the federal budget is counterfeiting. For the family, this isn’t an option—unless they want to go to jail. For the federal government, creating money is the preferred way to conduct a backdoor default on its obligations.
National debt = $ 220 Trillion. = unfunded liabilities. US federal debt plus the states and local debt .
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4258075/posts
Damn all Republicans! (////S)
Well that didn’t take long. I suspect we’ve hit the knee on that exponential curve.
Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter,” Vice President Dick Cheney said. The belief was that temporary increase in deficit spending would spur economic growth. The thing is the deficit spending was never temporary.
3 Billion dollars a day.
$3,000,000,000
That just the interest per diem on the National Debt.
I was in banking all my life. Retired now. But I would have customers say they could not make the payments on their home or car and could they just pay the interest?
Sure, but the interest on your 600 dollar car payment is $515 this month.
“Oh (bleep)”
Reagan’s deficits paid for a peaceful end to the Cold War.
It seems forces are trying to set up painful austerity under Trump after the republicans signed off on trillions of NEW Biden spending, TRILLIONS. How about we start with deep cuts to the federal bureaucracy first, including federal jobs and useless spending, and nothing that affects the average American. Knowing the rinopublicans, they’ll try to cut benefits first.
And,
In 2023, the federal government spent $658 billion on net interest costs on the national debt. That total, which grew by 38 percent from $476 billion in 2022, was the largest amount ever spent on interest in the budget and totaled 2.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Interest costs are on track to become the largest category of spending in the federal budget — but what comprises the government’s net outlays on interest, and what affects the size of such costs?
In the past, increases in deficits and the debt were associated with temporary or one-time episodes, such as war or economic downturns. Now, however, deficits have become the norm due to the structural mismatch between federal spending and revenues.
More data, by the grace of God.https://www.pgpf.org/budget-basics/what-are-interest-costs-on-the-national-debt
The experts in government policy have an easy fix to this problem. Just increase the defense spending by indexing it to keep ahead at all times. Problem solved.
There are NO INTEREST PAYMENTS REQUIRED ON UNfunded liabilities. Where as $35 Trillion requires cash payments every year.
As much as I LOVE him, President in Exile Trump spent a LOT of (imaginary) money, too!
They all do. Not sure what the solution is - but that said, President in Exile Trump IS OUR LAST HOPE before we crash and burn as a World Leader.
Heels Up ain’t gonna do shiite...
Are you serious? Spend more on defense with BORROWED money?
That will accelerate interest payments on debt.
And this in-— Amazon to increase driver pay to nearly $22 an hour, a 7% raise
Amazon.com plans to spend an additional $2.1 billion on its contract delivery program, including safety programs, training and additional pay for the contracting firms.
If the Federal Reserve just created money out of thin air, why do we owe them anything?
I didn’t think I needed a sarcasm tag. I hoped my synicism would be seen.
Because every dollar is loaned into existence. Thats why they are called “Federal Reserve NOTES”
I think we should instead use the Modern Monetary Theory as a basis for a new monetary system.
R’s and D’s hate America, nothing but endless waves of debt. The entire system is propped up with promises. Gen x, y, z etc are screwed.
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