Blame spending for our $40 trillion debt
The federal government’s debt burden passed $40 trillion last week, a terrible milestone. It shows the extent to which we are living beyond our means and need to make hard choices.
TL;DR
- The national debt has exceeded $40 trillion, indicating the government is living beyond its means.
- Democrats wrongly attribute the debt to Republican-led tax cuts, misdiagnosing it as a revenue problem.
- From 2001 to the present, government spending has grown significantly faster (303%) than revenue (171%), even after accounting for inflation.
- Entitlement programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security) and net interest on the debt are the primary drivers of increased spending.
- Raising corporate taxes, as proposed by some Democrats, would harm competitiveness and be borne by consumers, not just corporations.
- Addressing the debt crisis requires confronting entitlement growth and reducing overall spending, not increasing taxes.