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This whole debt ceiling debacle is a symptom not the problem. Government spending far exceeds tax revenue. The fiscal deficit gap needs to be smaller or either

This whole debt ceiling debacle is a symptom not the problem. Government spending far exceeds tax revenue. The fiscal deficit gap needs to be smaller or either: (1) the debt burden will ballon (2) protracted high inflation. We run trillion dollar deficits… me and my kids will be burdened with this debt! At the same time we hand out tremendous benefits to the elderly through SS. We should be spending more on children than the elderly.

api 3y ago
Why is it only a problem when one party is in charge and ignored when the other party is in power? I agree that it’s a problem. I’m just pointing out why nothing is being done. What you see here is 100% political theater and wheeling and dealing. Meanwhile the debt goes up continuously under both Democrats and Republicans. Few members of either party are actually serious about cutting spending, especially when they get into power and cuts might be to their pet projects. There’s also a culture of using pork spending to almost literally buy votes. It’s been entrenched in the US systems for generations.
- freeone3000 3y ago
  Total tax revenues in 2022 were $2.69T. Medicare and social security were $2.14T. National defense was $0.776T. The three absolutely-cannot-cut categories alone are more than revenue! Of course nobody is serious about balancing the budget.
creatonez 3y ago
> We run trillion dollar deficits… me and my kids will be burdened with this debt! Your children aren't the ones paying for it. Numbers changing in a computer system is what pays for it.
- knewter 3y ago
  Presumably you believe the rate of inflation is unrelated to the rate of currency issuance. This seems incorrect.
  - thoughtstheseus 3y ago
    We have a real resource problem that can not be fixed by printing more money. Printing Money (expanding money supply) creates inflation now as supply cannot match demand.
  - creatonez 3y ago
    I do believe something similar to that. Not that it's completely unrelated, but that the rate of inflation is related to the use of monetary policy controls as a whole, not just currency issuance and wages. The traditional economic dogma about inflation and spending is wrong.

api 3y ago

Why is it only a problem when one party is in charge and ignored when the other party is in power? I agree that it’s a problem. I’m just pointing out why nothing is being done. What you see here is 100% political theater and wheeling and dealing. Meanwhile the debt goes up continuously under both Democrats and Republicans. Few members of either party are actually serious about cutting spending, especially when they get into power and cuts might be to their pet projects. There’s also a culture of using pork spending to almost literally buy votes. It’s been entrenched in the US systems for generations.

freeone3000 3y ago
Total tax revenues in 2022 were $2.69T. Medicare and social security were $2.14T. National defense was $0.776T. The three absolutely-cannot-cut categories alone are more than revenue! Of course nobody is serious about balancing the budget.

creatonez 3y ago

> We run trillion dollar deficits… me and my kids will be burdened with this debt! Your children aren't the ones paying for it. Numbers changing in a computer system is what pays for it.

knewter 3y ago
Presumably you believe the rate of inflation is unrelated to the rate of currency issuance. This seems incorrect.
- thoughtstheseus 3y ago
  We have a real resource problem that can not be fixed by printing more money. Printing Money (expanding money supply) creates inflation now as supply cannot match demand.
- creatonez 3y ago
  I do believe something similar to that. Not that it's completely unrelated, but that the rate of inflation is related to the use of monetary policy controls as a whole, not just currency issuance and wages. The traditional economic dogma about inflation and spending is wrong.