Why politicians won’t talk about the national debt
Right now, the debt amounts to $117,000 for every man, woman, child, and gender-questioning person in the United States.
A few weeks back, I wrote about what I think are very important issues that major political candidates are not talking about.
One was Social Security, another was the just-reached $40 trillion national debt, the largest ever.
How did that happen?
A- We spend too much.
B- We tax too little.
C- Both.
And both parties are guilty.
The cure is as plain as the pepperoni on your pizza:
A- Spend less.
B- Tax more.
C- Both.
In his daily, unscientific-but-revealing audience polls, CNN host Michael Smerconish asked if his audience would be willing to accept higher taxes, and lesser benefits (less spending) to reduce our highest-ever national debt that is greater than our Gross Domestic Product by at least 125%.
Here is the result:
A resounding NO!
Almost 8 out of 10 are unwilling to pay more or take less. Are Americans that self-centered, selfish and greedy?
That astounding poll may explain why politicians run away from the issue like a zombie apocalypse.
Data Centers are on easy call — 80% of Americans oppose them, the same percentage that won’t lift a finger to touch the steering wheel on an auto that has us racing toward a financial cliff.
Right now, the debt amounts to $117,000 for every man, woman, child, and gender-questioning person in the United States.
And if you can’t pay it, do you know who will?
Your children. Or their children.
Is that responsible behavior?
Look — no one wants to cut benefits. It is a fact of life that once voters get something, it’s almost politically impossible to remove it.
And while there is (all together now) waste, fraud and abuse (WFA), there just ain’t so much of that.
Remember DOGE was going to find $2 trillion in WFA? It claimed to find $110 billion. That’s not chicken feed, but even if you accept that figure, and many don’t, it is only 5.5% of what was promised.
That leaves tax increases, carefully designed to raise the greatest amount of money while doing the least harm.
I am ready to hear your screams of outrage, or better ideas.
