Record US Deficits & Word Salad Excuses

Letter to Ephesians: US’s debt is nearing 100% of GDP & is expected to surpass post-WWII record of 106% in a few years. BUT DID YOU KNOW it wasn’t all that long ago the Swamp geniuses were lucky enough to blow a budget SURPLUS? So path to bankruptcy isn’t inevitable?

As a recent WSJ op ed reminds, “A generation ago, the federal budget was briefly in surplus. Now, it appears headed for a record stretch of peacetime deficits.” So, tell us, what happened? First, the good news. “In 2000, the federal government actually ran a surplus and the CBO, Capitol Hill’s nonpartisan scorekeeper [if there is such a thing in the overwhelmingly blue Foggy Bottom] projected the Treasury would keep collecting enough revenue to pay for all government programs and generate continuing surpluses.” The bad news. The editors said they couldn’t pin the blame on a single event or even series of events, but they saw culprits or “a mix of factors: an aging population, tax cuts, wars, the 2008 financial crisis, expanded healthcare spending, the Covid pandemic & rising federal assistance to households.”

To be sure, “both parties played a part. Democrats did little to reverse that tide of red ink when they controlled Congress & Joe Biden was president. Now, Republicans & President Trump are pushing a tax-and-spending megabill that would add trillions to deficits, compared with letting tax cuts expire as scheduled.” Yet, note the “chicken and egg” analysis by the WSJ as to which came first. Then, toss into this word salad that VOTERS of both parties cry like banshees whenever anyone has the gumption to propose their slice of the omelet is going to be discontinued. Now, circle back to Year 2000. And, remember a balanced checkbook for US as well as its citizens is not impossible.

Davd Soul