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36.5 trillion in total national debt Increasing by 1 trillion every 100 days Thats by 10 billion per day Thats 417 million per hour Thats 6.9 million per mi

36.5 trillion in total national debt Increasing by 1 trillion every 100 days Thats by 10 billion per day Thats 417 million per hour Thats 6.9 million per minute They need to cut more of this kind of stuff, not less. Way more.

ahoka 2y ago
Maybe stop giving tax cuts to rich people instead of downgrading the USA to a regional power?
- gjsman-1000 2y ago
  Raise taxes on rich people, rich people leave the country or invest offshore; or put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. What is $1 billion to destroy a political career over $10 billion in taxes?
  - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
    This is a great argument for why we should find ways, as a society, to prevent people from reaching such a level of ultra-wealth in the first place.
    - gjsman-1000 2y ago
      Or accept, and recognize, that things kind of go both ways: The rich can be exploitative of the poor relative to themselves and heavily motivated by greed; But it can be equally true that the poor hate the rich with motivations based on greed and envy themselves. Poor people, ironically, can be extremely greedy, more greedy than many wealthy people - they aren’t incompatible. I’m not taking sides on this one.
      - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
        I agree that it goes both ways, in the sense that I support UBI. As I think there is a level of wealth that society has an interest in preventing anyone being above, I also think there is a level of poverty that society has an interest in preventing anyone being below.
  - Loughla 2y ago
    So because they can fuck us so hard, we should let them keep fucking us. What an odd argument.
  - 9dev 2y ago
    That’s just FUD. Do you see Bezos leaving the country for Argentina? Yeah, me neither. What’s the alternative you’re proposing? Just accept our new billionaire overlords?
    - gjsman-1000 2y ago
      Ask why the billionaire overlords are a problem first. Is it because they subvert the will of the people, and subvert what is good? If so, I agree, they must be stopped. Is it just the principle of the thing, how dare they be so rich, when so many people aren’t? If so, that’s envy, and cannot be accepted.
      - 9dev 2y ago
        The former; by amassing that much money, they gain the ability to both exploit the system to their personal gain, and shape it to their personal preferences, which grow ever less aligned with those of the general population. We're on our way to a techno-feudalism right now.
  - acdha 2y ago
    They aren’t leaving the country easily: not paying taxes would mean selling their properties, relocating their businesses, and renouncing their citizenship. Most of the alternatives have higher tax rates, fewer economic options, or both – and they lose significant benefits like preferential access to the U.S. government. Anyone who wanted to pay 0% could already become a citizen of Anguilla, Barbados, etc. but the fact that most haven’t suggests that there is more to the decision than sorting by tax rate and picking the lowest. > put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. That’s what happened in 2024 and we are facing rising inflation and a severe recession in the middle of a constitutional crisis. It’s unclear to me why anyone would think that the people who orchestrated that should be catered to.
- AnimalMuppet 2y ago
  Yeah. DOGE might make sense if you're trying to cut the deficit. Tax cuts make no sense in that context.
- 29athrowaway 2y ago
  The rich are... rich. They can move at any time, anywhere. There will always be a country that will receive them with open arms. Income redistribution will never happen.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - Jtsummers 2y ago
    Many of the countries they might want to move to have higher tax rates than the US. And, until recently, the US probably had the most significant global clout to back their business ventures with.
    - gjsman-1000 2y ago
      You’re assuming that if the US tried a serious wealth distribution tax hike, a country like China, India, South Korea, Japan, you name it, would not immediately offer sweetheart deals. The UK is currently learning this the hard way relative to the US with talent fleeing.
      - Jtsummers 2y ago
        ahoka wrote: > Maybe stop giving tax cuts to rich people Nor did I write anything about "significant tax hikes". How do you get from these comments to significant tax hikes? Not giving tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans and not increasing our deficit further is not the same thing as a significant tax hike. If you cannot distinguish these two things, I don't know how any productive conversation could ever be had here. And if billionaires choose to leave the US to avoid these non tax-hikes, that's their choice. But most countries they'd presently opt for do tax higher than the US does.
  - oblio 2y ago
    With this attitude you should probably pack up the US and call it a day. 1. Inequality has been constantly decreasing for most of the 20th century, worldwide. 2. Income redistribution has happened multiple times throughout history, and you can argue about the process and also about the results but it has happened repeatedly (French Revolution, Communist Revolution in Russia and all associated revolutions and coups, etc, etc).
- yusaythat 2y ago
  [flagged]
fastneutron 2y ago
You could cut all of it and it wouldn’t solve the problems you listed. It would just create new ones by closing off a major valve to the country’s R&D pipeline. Assuming you believe R&D is a worthwhile investment, what non-government alternatives would you propose for funding it?
thuridas 2y ago
Maybe it has a lot to do with Trump's tax cut to the rich. Unsurprisingly, they didn't work as expected, reports the Financial Times: https://youtu.be/AdwFchjz2e8?si=6fjZv6NWe6Q-VItN https://youtu.be/AdwFchjz2e8?si=6fjZv6NWe6Q-VItN
surgical_fire 2y ago
Don't worry, this debt will keep increasing, and will likely accelerate in the coming years. Maybe the public will just not know the numbers anymore. Either way, I am not from the US, so I read these threads for my own amusement. I am fine with what is happen over there, in a way I wouldn't be in my country of residence :)

ahoka 2y ago

Maybe stop giving tax cuts to rich people instead of downgrading the USA to a regional power?

gjsman-1000 2y ago
Raise taxes on rich people, rich people leave the country or invest offshore; or put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. What is $1 billion to destroy a political career over $10 billion in taxes?
- sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
  This is a great argument for why we should find ways, as a society, to prevent people from reaching such a level of ultra-wealth in the first place.
  - gjsman-1000 2y ago
    Or accept, and recognize, that things kind of go both ways: The rich can be exploitative of the poor relative to themselves and heavily motivated by greed; But it can be equally true that the poor hate the rich with motivations based on greed and envy themselves. Poor people, ironically, can be extremely greedy, more greedy than many wealthy people - they aren’t incompatible. I’m not taking sides on this one.
    - sjsdaiuasgdia 2y ago
      I agree that it goes both ways, in the sense that I support UBI. As I think there is a level of wealth that society has an interest in preventing anyone being above, I also think there is a level of poverty that society has an interest in preventing anyone being below.
- Loughla 2y ago
  So because they can fuck us so hard, we should let them keep fucking us. What an odd argument.
- 9dev 2y ago
  That’s just FUD. Do you see Bezos leaving the country for Argentina? Yeah, me neither. What’s the alternative you’re proposing? Just accept our new billionaire overlords?
  - gjsman-1000 2y ago
    Ask why the billionaire overlords are a problem first. Is it because they subvert the will of the people, and subvert what is good? If so, I agree, they must be stopped. Is it just the principle of the thing, how dare they be so rich, when so many people aren’t? If so, that’s envy, and cannot be accepted.
    - 9dev 2y ago
      The former; by amassing that much money, they gain the ability to both exploit the system to their personal gain, and shape it to their personal preferences, which grow ever less aligned with those of the general population. We're on our way to a techno-feudalism right now.
- acdha 2y ago
  They aren’t leaving the country easily: not paying taxes would mean selling their properties, relocating their businesses, and renouncing their citizenship. Most of the alternatives have higher tax rates, fewer economic options, or both – and they lose significant benefits like preferential access to the U.S. government. Anyone who wanted to pay 0% could already become a citizen of Anguilla, Barbados, etc. but the fact that most haven’t suggests that there is more to the decision than sorting by tax rate and picking the lowest. > put it into advertising to make sure not one involved politician wins an election ever again. That’s what happened in 2024 and we are facing rising inflation and a severe recession in the middle of a constitutional crisis. It’s unclear to me why anyone would think that the people who orchestrated that should be catered to.
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
Yeah. DOGE might make sense if you're trying to cut the deficit. Tax cuts make no sense in that context.
29athrowaway 2y ago
The rich are... rich. They can move at any time, anywhere. There will always be a country that will receive them with open arms. Income redistribution will never happen.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Jtsummers 2y ago
  Many of the countries they might want to move to have higher tax rates than the US. And, until recently, the US probably had the most significant global clout to back their business ventures with.
  - gjsman-1000 2y ago
    You’re assuming that if the US tried a serious wealth distribution tax hike, a country like China, India, South Korea, Japan, you name it, would not immediately offer sweetheart deals. The UK is currently learning this the hard way relative to the US with talent fleeing.
    - Jtsummers 2y ago
      ahoka wrote: > Maybe stop giving tax cuts to rich people Nor did I write anything about "significant tax hikes". How do you get from these comments to significant tax hikes? Not giving tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans and not increasing our deficit further is not the same thing as a significant tax hike. If you cannot distinguish these two things, I don't know how any productive conversation could ever be had here. And if billionaires choose to leave the US to avoid these non tax-hikes, that's their choice. But most countries they'd presently opt for do tax higher than the US does.
- oblio 2y ago
  With this attitude you should probably pack up the US and call it a day. 1. Inequality has been constantly decreasing for most of the 20th century, worldwide. 2. Income redistribution has happened multiple times throughout history, and you can argue about the process and also about the results but it has happened repeatedly (French Revolution, Communist Revolution in Russia and all associated revolutions and coups, etc, etc).
yusaythat 2y ago
[flagged]

fastneutron 2y ago

You could cut all of it and it wouldn’t solve the problems you listed. It would just create new ones by closing off a major valve to the country’s R&D pipeline. Assuming you believe R&D is a worthwhile investment, what non-government alternatives would you propose for funding it?

thuridas 2y ago

Maybe it has a lot to do with Trump's tax cut to the rich. Unsurprisingly, they didn't work as expected, reports the Financial Times: https://youtu.be/AdwFchjz2e8?si=6fjZv6NWe6Q-VItN https://youtu.be/AdwFchjz2e8?si=6fjZv6NWe6Q-VItN

surgical_fire 2y ago

Don't worry, this debt will keep increasing, and will likely accelerate in the coming years. Maybe the public will just not know the numbers anymore. Either way, I am not from the US, so I read these threads for my own amusement. I am fine with what is happen over there, in a way I wouldn't be in my country of residence :)