Cost of Servicing the Debt
Adding more perspective, Antoni added that “the cost to service the federal debt (pay the interest) has exploded 33.0% in a single year, and it's getting worse.”
Moreover, the economist also informs “that interest on the national debt was the single biggest expense for the government in June, far outrunning other critical public services, and the Treasury expects it will break the $1.14 trillion level this fiscal year,” as The Daily Hodl puts it.
In fairness and on a brighter note, Antoni’s analysis apparently doesn’t include payroll taxes, and personal income taxes are only a portion of the federal government’s total revenue, a figure that should be approximately $4.5 trillion this year.
Additionally, according to an X user responding to Antoni, “Some of this interest gets paid to other government agencies and Trust funds who own Treasuries.”
“Still alarming!” the man continued. “But if you net out intra-govt, you get 43% of individual income tax receipts going to interest payments (non gov publicly held debt).”
Who's Responsible?
All this underlines that as with most things in life, finance is very complicated. What there’s no doubt about, however, is that our government has long been fiscally irresponsible. But then there’s a question: On whom does the onus belong?
One X respondent posted a chart “showing” that Republican presidents accumulated far more debt than Democratic ones. Moreover, in a 2021 “fact check,” the Austin American-Statesman wrote that while debt increases have been a “bipartisan effort,” “since World War II, just over 60% of the growth in the debt took place under Republican presidents….” While this is surely true, it overlooks Civics 101:
Congress controls the purse strings.
The president can’t spend one thin dime without Congress’ approval; in contrast, Congress can, theoretically, spend as much as it wants and completely cut the president out of the picture (by overriding vetoes).
Bipartisan Blame
Looking at Congress does paint a very different picture, too. Democrats have controlled the body for the majority of the last 75 years, and Republican presidents have often had to contend with a recalcitrant, profligate Democratic Congress. Know, too, that the “Bill Clinton surpluses” of 1998 through 2000 were authored by a Republican Congress.
This said, our debt problems are now a bipartisan effort. The Democrats were once the party of taxing and spending while the GOP emphasized fiscal restraint and lower taxes; now, the Democrats are the party of taxing and spending and the Republicans are the party of not taxing and spending. In fact, while the GOP would talk much about deficits and the debt in the ’80s and ’90s, virtually no one even mentions the issue anymore. They’ve apparently just thrown up their hands.
In truth, though, here’s who is responsible for the debt: us.
A famous passage attributed to Scottish historian Alexander Tytler explains why.
“A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury,” it goes. “From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
So it’s ironic: The desire for stuff that’s “free” can lead to a people that’s not free — and to the end of getting free stuff.
As Americans, it is well past time we rejected evil in public office.
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We believe the American system of government, a constitutional Republic, is the finest ever developed by man.
We believe the traditional moral values of our Judeo-Christian heritage form the cornerstone of western civilization and that the family is the most vital unit of society.
We believe the free market system, competitive capitalism, and private enterprise afford the widest opportunity and highest standard of living for all.
We believe in the dignity of the individual. We welcome people from all ethnic racial and religious backgrounds judging others only by character and ability - as we wish to be judged ourselves - our common bond is a love for liberty and our rejection of totalitarianism under any label.
We believe that individual rights are endowed by our creator, not government; that the government's function should be limited to protecting our right to life, liberty, and property; and that individual rights are inseparably linked to individual responsibility.
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Yours in Service,
