Over $40 trillion in debt – Blame dysfunctional parents (our government)
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One could truly say that when it comes to spoiling Americans, the Democrats and the Republicans both rush to outdo the other as in a dysfunctional family. They are like bad parents who are competing for a child’s love. The father is trying to be nicer to the child than the mother. And when things go wrong, the parents blame each other. Oh well.
The national debt has just recently crossed the $40 trillion mark for the first time. Heck, our monthly budget deficit hovers around a half trillion. No other president has contributed more to this debt than the current occupant of the White House.
However, blame goes to both parties. The major expenditures approved by Congress were bipartisan, with the exception of very partisan Obamacare legislation.
The reason for the bipartisan support for excessive spending is because the mother and father of the household – Democrats and Republicans – both wanted to “give” people something. In doing so, they broke a fundamental rule about household budgeting. They put their charges on their (federal) credit card instead of paying for things by coming up with more revenue or reducing spending or some combination of the two.
The problem is so easy to understand. Both parents were happy to “spoil” their children by giving them something they never had when they were kids. And they did this to gain the short-term approval or admiration of the children (in politics, to get re-elected). After a while, however, the children start to rely on this type of behavior. And that is where we stand today – in a total fiscal mess.
That would at least partially explain why the last 26 years have gone so badly for America. All the presidents in the 21st Century are to blame for our $40 trillion national debt.
To manage our fiscal affairs we are now employing a president who has gone bankrupt three times. We should not be too surprised by his flimsy results. But never mind, we will have a brand new helicopter port, a remodeled Kennedy Center, an upgraded reflecting pool at the Mall (eventually) in Washington, and a new ballroom added to the White House where we can dance the night away.
With many of the above-mentioned projects the president would boast that no taxpayer dollars are being spent on them. So, we are to believe that businessmen who are transactional to their core are not looking at their contributions in terms of being transactional. OK. Most administrations of the past have viewed such actions as foul play or verging on it.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gets the problem about as well as Jed Clappett did from “The Beverly Hillbillies” TV show of the 1960s. Most people understand that to get yourself out of the proverbial hole you do not keep digging. That has never worked and is impossible unless you believe there is a light deep down in the hole indicating that you have reached the other side of the world – or maybe hell.
But today what is the excuse for us continuing and rapidly digging our hole deeper and expecting to come out on the other end?
When your biggest expense on your budget is the interest on your credit card debt, it is time to panic. Worse yet, our answer has been to increase that debt.
Wait, it gets worse. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking for a huge increase in federal government spending. If he gets what he wants it would represent a 44% increase from the prior year – a $500 billion ask. That’s madness. All because of a fear of the “boogie” man.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the worst tragedy on American soil ever. Yet the infamous Osama Bin Laden, the main perpetrator of that attack, must be laughing in hell. He promised that four airplanes could destroy America – not militarily but financially – as he felt America would overreact.
Since 9/11 we have spent trillions of dollars defending against an event that happened once in 250 years. One would have better odds of hitting the billion dollar jackpot in a lottery than for this incident to be repeated. Thankfully, we have also made common-sense security adjustments. Yet we have poured trillions into the fight against boogie men – putting our money in foreign entanglements instead of domestic priorities. We let our fear get the best of us. It is clear that we have little faith in “God we trust.”
Living in fear of the boogie man is extremely expensive but our defense industrial base keeps making, as a popular hit song would say, “More money, More money.”
The second principle to remember during this period is that bullies like bullies, even little bullies. President Donald Trump’s betrayals of our longstanding allies is the primary reason why nobody is willing to help Trump out of his Iran quagmire.
These allies that have soured on us include Canada, our neighbor to the north and closest ally, many NATO member states, which include European nations and long-time allies. We can now add South Korea to that list after Trump appeased North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by canceling our joint military training with South Korea.
In 50 years Iran has killed or sponsored the killing of more than 1,000 Americans. The Islamic Republic also does not possess a nuclear weapon. North Korea on the other hand has killed over 36,500 Americans and has 57 nuclear weapons (most acquired since Trump’s first administration). You tell me which is a bigger threat as both countries hate America. Yet Trump has decided to cozy up to the North Korean dictator like he has attempted to do with China and Russia, while continuing our war against Iran.
Lastly, Trump’s tariff fiasco has cost American taxpayers over $100 billion. The Supreme Court recently ruled against these blanket tariffs. The additional problem is that Trump’s tariffs cost Americans up to $2,500 per family in added spending as the extra tariff costs were passed on to companies that then passed at least part of their additional cost onto American families. The corporations got their money back via the ruling, but you guessed it, American families have not and will likely not get reimbursed at all.
Today, affordability has been a major concern for Americans. Tomorrow, and in succeeding generations, our national debt will seriously impair the American dream. And they will be able to blame “their parents” for decades of dysfunctional governance.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Gary Franks served three terms as a congressman from Connecticut’s 5th District. He was the first Black conservative elected to Congress and first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years. Host: Podcast “We Speak Frankly” www.garyfranksphilanthropy.org