National Debt Surpasses $35 Trillion; GOP Raises The Alarm
Daily WireJul 23
US National Debt Reaches $35T
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Above: A statue of Albert Gallatin, a former US Secretary of the Treasury, stands in front of The Treasury Building in Washington, DC. Image copyright: Robert Alexander/Contributor/Archive Photos via Getty Images
The Facts
On Monday, the US Dept. of the Treasury's daily report showed that the sovereign debt owed by the US has reached $35T for the first time in the country's history.
In June, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal deficit would be $1.9T in 2024, which they project would grow to $2.8T by 2034. Debt held by the public could be a record-breaking 122% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2034.
The Spin
Republican narrative
When facing a shortfall, the common sense answer is to reduce spending, but Democrats have decided to tax their way out of this crisis to fuel an inflationary agenda. Fiscal discipline is the only solution, not wanton tax-and-spend policies, and America needs real leadership to bear down on wasteful spending and keep the coffers full. This wasteful deficit spending is not sustainable.
Democratic narrative
The Republicans under Trump have gone from deficit hawks to massive spenders. Their agenda, which involves extending Trump's tax cuts for the rich and making Medicare fork over more money to Big Pharma, is designed to deprive the government of much-needed funding, not solve the debt problem whatsoever. Their "starve the beast" strategy has made America more indebted.
Cynical narrative
Every politician loves to talk about the national debt when convenient, but no politician actually seems to want to reduce it. Economists agree that the US is heading off a fiscal cliff, but the solutions for the problem are too unpalatable for any major party to discuss. Tackling the debt will require reforming Social Security and Medicare — political suicide — and other hard-nosed solutions.
