The Trillion Dollar Problem
The US Treasury Department is reporting that the debt service payments are now more than $1 trillion per year. This is more than our annual budget for the US military and is historically emblematic of a country in the early stages of decline.
If anyone wants to point the finger at Democrats, that’s not exactly true. Historically, Republicans have loved to talk about balancing budgets and cutting spending only to capitulate on every issue once they take power. The growing populist trend on the right has led Republicans to proudly grow the size and scope of government in order to punish their enemies and reward their friends.
This weaponization of government is antithetical to the principles and beliefs of the conservative movement. If Republicans want to provide meaningful change in fiscal policy, they must be willing to risk everything.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats play for keeps. In 2009, the Democrats locked in Obamacare before being swept out of office in the biggest landslide since the 1800s. Thousands of Democrats lost around the country but they locked in a policy position the party deemed important. If Republicans want to enact meaningful change, they should slash the money and power given to Washington and dare the Democrats to reverse it. Just maybe, the voters will reward them for it. Watch:
"Nothing is easier than spending the public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody".
--Calvin Coolidge, a hundred years ago.
When the national debt reached one trillion dollars Ronald Reagan went on TV to talk about it. His words have always stayed with me.
To paraphrase:
"You people throw around terms like you know what they mean. I assure you, you don't. I'm going to explain the difference between a million dollars and a trillion dollars. to you.
If I had a million dollars in my right hand in hundred dollars bills the stack would be three feet high. If I have a trillion dollars in my left hand in hundred dollars bills the stack would be 67 1/2 miles high."
The total amount of gold on the planet is about 10 trillion dollars. We owe over 30 trillion. Talking about the national debt and doing nothing about it is tantamount to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.