The CBO says our debt will continue to grow over the next decade, leading to “serious negative consequences”. Really, you think so?
OK, let me put the U.S. budget crisis in terms you might understand. In the following comparison, “income” is proportional to tax revenue, “credit card debt” is proportional to national debt,
You have an immature sibling who can’t seem to handle their money. They make a cool $100K per year, but have almost $430K in credit card (unsecured) debt (more than four times their gross income). Worse, they expect their credit card debt to increase by $18K this year alone. By 2026, their income will rise to over $150K/year, but their credit card debt will increase to $700K – and will be increasing at a rate of almost $38K per year. In other words, even if their earnings rise as projected their debt will rise at an even faster rate. You’ve been brought up with strong family bonds, and you know that you and the rest of the family will need to bail your sibling out if they get too far in debt. What kind of talk would you be having with your sibling under these circumstances? Maybe you would discuss the”serious negative consequences” of their actions…?
Now, let’s look at this from another angle: You work for your sibling’s company, where you are paid at a higher rate (and with better benefits) than market because of your familial ties. It also turns out your sibling is on the hook for any shortfall in your retirement account, so you plan on “spiking” your last year income to increase your retirement payout. You could (and should) have been replaced years ago by someone with a better work ethic, higher skills, and a lower cost, but you don’t want to give up your meal ticket. Instead, you unduly influence your sibling directly and through like-minded family members (guilt is, after all, a powerful tool). What kind of talk do you have with your sibling under these conditions? Yeah, I thought so.
Notice that that the government likes to state the national debt as a percent of GDP. Since when is your debt calculated based on the productivity of the company for which you work? Seems like some sneaky accounting trick, doesn’t it (it is)?
Welcome to the Welfare States of America, where your wealth and well being is the responsibility of the state. God save the sucker who actually works for a living (or, more correctly, for your living).
And don’t forget: It’s your own fault. You put them in office, and they’ve done exactly what you told them to do. You want something for free, and they give it to you while billing the minority of voters who didn’t contribute to their campaign coffers. Well, watch out: someday it might be you who gets stuck with the bill.