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>The national debt of the U.S. reached a historic milestone by passing $33 trillion for the first time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said. I'm pretty su

>The national debt of the U.S. reached a historic milestone by passing $33 trillion for the first time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said. I'm pretty sure when we hit $32T it was for the first time, and $31T, etc. I remember when I was a kid, the Reagan administration debt was a massive deal, leading to the famous debt clock and was at a measly $1T. We should really be cutting the corrupted government agencies, and curb military spending; but the politicians will probably try to cut social security, medicaid and medicare, and/or just inflate us to death.

ericmcer 3y ago
Not to be pro-military or anti social programs, but the social programs are why we have a humongous debt. Military spending is ~12% of the budget? Social Security, Healthcare, Medicare and other social programs account for ~80%, so slashing our military spending by 50% would barely slow debt growth. Military spending is also easier to regulate, it is a fixed price the government can tune up and down at their discretion. Social Security and other social services are not at their discretion and it is difficult to slow the amount of money they consume.
- thelastgallon 3y ago
  >> social programs are why we have a humongous debt. Wrong. Social security and medicare are funded by taxpayers. Social security 6.2%, medicare 1.45%. Total 7.65%. Employer has to match that. Total of 15.3% of everyone's paycheck goes towards funding this. Even for retirement contributions, they are after FICA taxes are taken out.
  - Clubber 3y ago
    There is also a cap on social security tax, so if you make more than $160,200, you don't pay any more into social security than a person who makes $160,200 would. If you earn $2M, you pay as much as a person making $160,200. Granted, you are also capped on collecting social security, but those people probably won't need it. https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/02/should-we-eliminate-the-social-security-tax-cap-here-are-the-pros-and-cons https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/02/should-we-eliminate-the-so... People who aren't employed, also don't pay medicare tax. This includes wealthy people who make their money by other means like market speculation, etc. https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/a-closer-look-at-medicare-taxes/ https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/a-closer-look-a... The middle class is solely supporting both of those programs.
  - chung8123 3y ago
    I don't think what Social Security brings in pays for what Social Security pays out.
    - 0xcde4c3db 3y ago
      I'm under the impression that it's sort of the opposite; it's been too good at bringing in money. The exact number depends on year and methodology, but a significant chunk of the national debt is money owed to the Social Security fund because politicians kept borrowing its surpluses to spend on other stuff.
      - Clubber 3y ago
        It's run a surplus from 1983 up until 2021. Following the bipartisan Social Security financing deal in 1983, Social Security ran a surplus every year until 2021. Starting in 2021, Social Security’s total cost exceeded its total income. https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-the-social-security-trust-funds-0 https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-...
    - maxerickson 3y ago
      There's a modest deficit: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html Around 2% this year, a bit more last year.
- WWLink 3y ago
  Keep in mind that if you kill social security and medicare (I know you'd LOVE to) then you don't get that money coming in anymore, either. How do you propose we keep taking the money out of people's paychecks while not giving them anything back in return? Call it the Republican Fuck You Tax?
PopAlongKid 3y ago
>cutting the corrupted government agencies Is there a list somewhere we can view? Is it always true that "corruption" = "spending too much money", or in other words, what would the dollar savings be from eliminating the corruption?

ericmcer 3y ago

Not to be pro-military or anti social programs, but the social programs are why we have a humongous debt. Military spending is ~12% of the budget? Social Security, Healthcare, Medicare and other social programs account for ~80%, so slashing our military spending by 50% would barely slow debt growth. Military spending is also easier to regulate, it is a fixed price the government can tune up and down at their discretion. Social Security and other social services are not at their discretion and it is difficult to slow the amount of money they consume.

thelastgallon 3y ago
>> social programs are why we have a humongous debt. Wrong. Social security and medicare are funded by taxpayers. Social security 6.2%, medicare 1.45%. Total 7.65%. Employer has to match that. Total of 15.3% of everyone's paycheck goes towards funding this. Even for retirement contributions, they are after FICA taxes are taken out.
- Clubber 3y ago
  There is also a cap on social security tax, so if you make more than $160,200, you don't pay any more into social security than a person who makes $160,200 would. If you earn $2M, you pay as much as a person making $160,200. Granted, you are also capped on collecting social security, but those people probably won't need it. https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/02/should-we-eliminate-the-social-security-tax-cap-here-are-the-pros-and-cons https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/02/should-we-eliminate-the-so... People who aren't employed, also don't pay medicare tax. This includes wealthy people who make their money by other means like market speculation, etc. https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/a-closer-look-at-medicare-taxes/ https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/a-closer-look-a... The middle class is solely supporting both of those programs.
- chung8123 3y ago
  I don't think what Social Security brings in pays for what Social Security pays out.
  - 0xcde4c3db 3y ago
    I'm under the impression that it's sort of the opposite; it's been too good at bringing in money. The exact number depends on year and methodology, but a significant chunk of the national debt is money owed to the Social Security fund because politicians kept borrowing its surpluses to spend on other stuff.
    - Clubber 3y ago
      It's run a surplus from 1983 up until 2021. Following the bipartisan Social Security financing deal in 1983, Social Security ran a surplus every year until 2021. Starting in 2021, Social Security’s total cost exceeded its total income. https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-the-social-security-trust-funds-0 https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/understanding-...
  - maxerickson 3y ago
    There's a modest deficit: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html Around 2% this year, a bit more last year.
WWLink 3y ago
Keep in mind that if you kill social security and medicare (I know you'd LOVE to) then you don't get that money coming in anymore, either. How do you propose we keep taking the money out of people's paychecks while not giving them anything back in return? Call it the Republican Fuck You Tax?

PopAlongKid 3y ago

>cutting the corrupted government agencies Is there a list somewhere we can view? Is it always true that "corruption" = "spending too much money", or in other words, what would the dollar savings be from eliminating the corruption?