Congressional leaders are sitting down with Dementia Joe to talk about how to spend your money. If you have been following along, you know that starting this Friday, the US Government may partially shut down. Congress has not yet agreed on a new funding deal (as I write this) for the federal government for the rest of 2024.
This joy ride started back in September when the full year’s funding bills should have been passed. But leaders couldn’t agree on the amounts. Since they’ve kicked the can down the road every few months, setting a new deadline each time. Now, we’re approaching the March 1st deadline. So far, it doesn’t look good.
Mr. Biden and Senate Majority Leader Schumer want a lot of spending on lots of things. They want $95B for the wars in Ukraine and Israel. House Speaker Mike Johnson and his party want less spending, especially for those foreign wars. We have a $34T national debt, record annual deficits, and record interest payments on that debt. We cannot afford all the wants.
The interest payments on that debt will be greater this year than the entire US military budget. That’s a wake-up point; enough! The Congressional Budget Office agrees with Speaker Johnson. Their analysis is that America’s national debt will reach $54T within the next six years.
The Penn Wharton School, too, says it’s true. The big debt load means the US will likely be insolvent by the year 2040. Not bothered by facts and data, Mr. Biden and Mr. Schumer insist on more spending. Sen. Schumer says opposition to further spending means you’re an extremist.
Mr. Johnson, not pleased by that rhetoric, says the shutdown starts Friday, if there is one, and the responsibility for the shutdown belongs to the Democrats. He points out that during recent negotiations, Mr. Schumer suddenly said he wanted more spending this year on new additional priorities.
We’ve got three days for Congress to pass at least 12 budget bills, or the shutdown begins. Can they do it? Some House Republicans say a minibus deal can be used. Others say they should kick the can again until April.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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Those who care about the future of America say it’s time to shut down the Government and reset our priorities. They want to shock the American people with how bad the fiscal crisis really is. It’s time for DC to finally be honest with the American people. Yes, even if it means doing something unpopular.
America’s biggest budget items, by far, are Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. If DC is serious about cutting the federal budget and reversing that debt crisis, this means we have to change laws and start cutting or limiting those programs. Virtually every American will be affected, especially retirees.
That is why nobody in DC really wants to talk about the federal debt, deficit, and record interest payments. Sacrifice is not a popular idea. Those are the facts on this evolving budget crisis.
As it turns out, promising lots of free stuff to everybody is really easy. Paying for it, however, is not so easy. In fact, we can’t pay for it unless we take on more debt, massively cut spending, or jack up taxes. That’s the ugly political and financial reality this morning.
There’s no easy answer that comes without pain and sacrifice. That’s the honest reality nobody in Washington DC really wants to talk about, and certainly not in a Presidential Election Year. So, we should expect more lying and political theater over the coming days.
At the end of the day, there won’t be any material progress on deficits or debt. At most, we’ll see some version of “can kicking” that will push this problem down that road. But you have to know, at some point, there’s no road left. That’s when your kids and grandkids are stuck with the nightmare we’re seeing in places like Argentina and Venezuela.
