$34 Trillion

[no_hypocrisy]

Last edited Wed Jan 10, 2024, 07:57 AM - Edit history (1)

Last week, the National Debt reached $34 trillion. Not million. Not billion. Trillion.

With all the agonized screams coming from the House Republicans, it seems (to me) that once a certain number is reached (and $34 trillion seems right), taxes MUST be raised, the Trump tax cuts MUST be prematurely rescinded.

Yes, it won't solve the problem, but it's a good start. With the correct mathematical formula, it can be done without a collapse in the national economy.

Tax cuts just aren't the correct mechanism when we owe not only $34 trillion, BUT ALSO the interest payments on $34 trillion. It ain't pretty.

[Emile]

1. Cutting the IRS budget is not going to help either.

Republicans for the most part are the reason this country is in debt.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Just To Be Clear

The deal on the IRS didn't cut the budget. It reduced the increase. The IRS is still getting more money, just less added than originally planned.

[Emile]

8. Just to be clear the IRS needs a much larger

budget to go after all the tax cheats.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. And, They're Getting It

Is it enough? We shall see.
Would I prefer they left it as it was? Yes.
But, it's still an increase, not a cut.
Your post does not refute that primary point.

[Emile]

10. It's not enough!

[Irish_Dem]

2. And what do we have to show for it?

We don't have the same standard of living as other modern countries.
Healthcare, education, work hours, vacation, etc.

[albacore]

4. But...but....but... we have the F-35... ($1.5 Trillion of non-performance)...

And the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier... ($14 Billion. Can it launch planes yet?)
The list is long.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Defense contractors have to make a living. :(

Many of the retired military officers making a good retirement salary, and benefits
Double dipping.

[Omnipresent]

3. Most of that 34 trillion isn't borrowed, it's been printed.

Nobody can tell me, we’re actually able to pay the interest on it.
We have to be realistic about our Government’s finances.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Therefore, more revenue is needed.

We could cut spending for federal programs and to states, but at what cost?

Financial collapse of the country. =

Where is the national "financial advisor" of the country to propose a program to even half the Debt? And it would have to be for at least a decade without any Congress or Administration to tinker with it. And it would have to be bipartisan. And as of the latter, good luck with that.

[Omnipresent]

7. No funding needs to be cut....

It’s like ‘monopoly money’ you would use to play a game.
The treasury just prints it up, so it looks like, we actually borrowed it, but didn’t.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. More revenue as in cutting the Trump Tax Cuts.

[Omnipresent]

13. Sure, why not.

[gab13by13]

12. 34 trillion is a meaningless number,

The notion of paying off our debt is ridiculous. The UK still owes debt from the Napoleonic wars.

The public debt balance actually needs to be evaluated in relation to GDP. The US's debt-to-GDP ratio hovered around 97% last year, below a key threshold of 100%.

"[$34 trillion is] meaningless. It's really in the context of GDP, the resources that are available to make good on the interest of the principal payments on that debt," according to Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "A common mistake people make is that they quote these big numbers, but fail to recognize that there's some really big numbers supporting that debt," he added.

[Martin Eden]

14. Huge budget deficits are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for GOP long term goals

They have always wanted to destroy FDR's New Deal (Social Security) and LBJ's Great Society (Medicaid, Medicare, etc) but these programs have broad public support, so their strategy has been to convince the public these "entitlements" are causing huge budget deficits and are no longer affordable.

They purposely STARVE THE BEAST by draining the treasury with enormous tax cuts for the rich and colossally expensive wars of choice.

They pretend to be "fiscal conservatives" but their long term goals depend on driving our federal government into deep red ink.