Does Debt Really Matter

[Papageorgio]

For decades I have believed that our country’s debt mattered, I have had people claim it does and other claim it doesn’t. We are at $36 trillion in debt, we keep printing money, we keep spending, we cut taxes, neither is good at reducing debt.

My belief has been that debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans, a rising debt means slower economic growth, less flexibility in dealing with disasters and crisis, higher inflation, erosion of confidence in the US dollar and many countries are looking to go off the dollar which could cripple America. This is a few of my arguments against our current debt situation.

Then I have had people tell me not to worry about debt, Debt doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt the country, I don’t understand how the economy works.

So does debt matter? Does it not matter? Should we be worried at the accelerated debt our country has taken on? I think we are in big trouble and it is bigger than Democrats and Republicans because neither is willing to slow debt down or be fiscally responsible, they both love to make promises and spend money.

 

[Lesh]

For decades I have believed that our country’s debt mattered, I have had people claim it does and other claim it doesn’t. We are at $36 trillion in debt, we keep printing money, we keep spending, we cut taxes, neither is good at reducing debt.

My belief has been that debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans, a rising debt means slower economic growth, less flexibility in dealing with disasters and crisis, higher inflation, erosion of confidence in the US dollar and many countries are looking to go off the dollar which could cripple America. This is a few of my arguments against our current debt situation.

Then I have had people tell me not to worry about debt, Debt doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt the country, I don’t understand how the economy works.

So does debt matter? Does it not matter? Should we be worried at the accelerated debt our country has taken on? I think we are in big trouble and it is bigger than Democrats and Republicans because neither is willing to slow debt down or be fiscally responsible, they both love to make promises and spend money.

Debt only matters to Republicans when they aren’t in control of the levers of government.

Been that way for decades

 

[JoeB131]

Debt happens because it is the path of least resistance. It's easier than either raising taxes or cutting programs.

 

[Papageorgio]

Debt only matters to Republicans when they aren’t in control of the levers of government.

Been that way for decades

So debt doesn’t matter at all?

 

[Votto]

For decades I have believed that our country’s debt mattered, I have had people claim it does and other claim it doesn’t. We are at $36 trillion in debt, we keep printing money, we keep spending, we cut taxes, neither is good at reducing debt.

My belief has been that debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans, a rising debt means slower economic growth, less flexibility in dealing with disasters and crisis, higher inflation, erosion of confidence in the US dollar and many countries are looking to go off the dollar which could cripple America. This is a few of my arguments against our current debt situation.

Then I have had people tell me not to worry about debt, Debt doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt the country, I don’t understand how the economy works.

So does debt matter? Does it not matter? Should we be worried at the accelerated debt our country has taken on? I think we are in big trouble and it is bigger than Democrats and Republicans because neither is willing to slow debt down or be fiscally responsible, they both love to make promises and spend money.

No wonder the Left is in love with DICK

 

[kyzr]

So debt doesn’t matter at all?

It doesn't matter until it does, then its too late.
Rating agencies keep downgrading US debt.
Sooner or later US Debt becomes JUNK, then the dollar collapses and we become Venezuela.

 

[shockedcanadian]

For decades I have believed that our country’s debt mattered, I have had people claim it does and other claim it doesn’t. We are at $36 trillion in debt, we keep printing money, we keep spending, we cut taxes, neither is good at reducing debt.

My belief has been that debt means fewer economic opportunities for Americans, a rising debt means slower economic growth, less flexibility in dealing with disasters and crisis, higher inflation, erosion of confidence in the US dollar and many countries are looking to go off the dollar which could cripple America. This is a few of my arguments against our current debt situation.

Then I have had people tell me not to worry about debt, Debt doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt the country, I don’t understand how the economy works.

So does debt matter? Does it not matter? Should we be worried at the accelerated debt our country has taken on? I think we are in big trouble and it is bigger than Democrats and Republicans because neither is willing to slow debt down or be fiscally responsible, they both love to make promises and spend money.

Yes it matters. Your dollar backs this debt.

Maybe that is the agenda, to short the U.S dollar so some people can make hundreds of billions.

 

[rampart]

No wonder the Left is in love with DICK

View attachment 1026993

"i am the king of debt" trump

no one is in love with cheney. he is correct on only 1 point (and it ain't debt)

"trump is unfit for office" cheney

 

[rampart]

Yes it matters. Your dollar backs this debt.

Maybe that is the agenda, to short the U.S dollar so some people can make hundreds of billions.

the agenda is to become so far in debt that our national parks, infrastructure,k and mineral weatlh can be sold to9 "qualified budders."

 

[Votto]

"i am the king of debt" trump

no one is in love with cheney. he is correct on only 1 point (and it ain't debt)

"trump is unfit for office" cheney

You love Dick.

That's what I hear anyway.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Debt only matters to Republicans when they aren’t in control of the levers of government.

Been that way for decades

Debt only matters to Dems when they aren’t in control of the levers of government.

Been that way for decades

 

[JoeB131]

Yes it matters. Your dollar backs this debt.

Maybe that is the agenda, to short the U.S dollar so some people can make hundreds of billions.

Or as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

The reason why we have debt.

1) We want government to do a bunch of things.
2) We don't want to pay for it.

The first way to cut debt is to cut spending. But the biggest ticket items really can't be cut. We aren't going to cut the military unless we become Isolationist, we aren't going to cut social security or medicare which are the two biggest line items in our budget. We can't cut our debt interest payments without defaulting. So this is largely a non-starter.

We SHOULD raise taxes, especially on the wealthy, but this is probably also a non-starter. Trump and Harris are both falling all over each other to promise new tax breaks.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Debt happens because it is the path of least resistance. It's easier than either raising taxes or cutting programs.

Debt happens because "we the people" keep voting in the people adding to the debt, giving them our stamp of approval to keep doing it

 

[JoeB131]

Debt happens because "we the people" keep voting in the people adding to the debt, giving them our stamp of approval to keep doing it

More importantly, we don't own up.

I often say that the last politician who was honest about taxes was Walter Mondale in 1984, who said straight up, we'd have to raise taxes.

He lost 49 states. He barely won his home state.

Then the guy who won proceeded to raise taxes anyway under the guise of "Tax Reform". The guy who followed him said, "Read my lips, no new Taxes" and proceeded to raise taxes again. The guy after that weasel-worded on taxes and had to raise them anyway.

The way to get ahead of debt is to raise taxes and severely cut entitlements, but both are political non-starters.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

It should be added that the dollar amount of the debt is far less important than its percent of our GDP.

It is no different than with a family. We have a good amount more debt now than we did 10 years ago, yet it is a far smaller percent of our income.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

More importantly, we don't own up.

I often say that the last politician who was honest about taxes was Walter Mondale in 1984, who said straight up, we'd have to raise taxes.

He lost 49 states. He barely won his home state.

Then the guy who won proceeded to raise taxes anyway under the guise of "Tax Reform". The guy who followed him said, "Read my lips, no new Taxes" and proceeded to raise taxes again. The guy after that weasel-worded on taxes and had to raise them anyway.

The way to get ahead of debt is to raise taxes and severely cut entitlements, but both are political non-starters.

Because the debt has not gotten to the point where it is causing pain, thus nobody cares about it.

 

[DGS49]

THEORETICALLY, the Debt will matter when the DEBT SERVICE is so large that it reduces or eliminates pockets of funding for discretionary spending. Unfortunately, the Democrats in Congress simply refuse to accept that reality and have not scaled back on their initiatives to buy votes with borrowed taxpayer money.

Why is this so seldom pointed out by the Media? Are they in on it?

 

[Lesh]

So debt doesn’t matter at all?

I already said all that matters about debt.

 

[kyzr]

Or as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

The reason why we have debt.
1) We want government to do a bunch of things.
2) We don't want to pay for it.

The first way to cut debt is to cut spending. But the biggest ticket items really can't be cut. We aren't going to cut the military unless we become Isolationist, we aren't going to cut social security or medicare which are the two biggest line items in our budget. We can't cut our debt interest payments without defaulting. So this is largely a non-starter.

We SHOULD raise taxes, especially on the wealthy, but this is probably also a non-starter. Trump and Harris are both falling all over each other to promise new tax breaks.

1. We agree that spending MUST be cut. I'm optimistic that Elon Musk would do a good job slimming down the Federal government, eliminating "fraud, waste, and abuse". IF congress goes along with his recommendations.

2. The Federal Budget exploded because of Covid, but never went down AFTER Covid. This is where $Trillions can be saved.

Biden’s 2025 Budget is $7.30T with a $1.8T deficit______TOTAL BIDEN $6.9T
Biden’s 2024 Budget was $7.30T with a $2.0T deficit
Biden's 2023 Budget was $6.13T with a $1.7T deficit
Biden's 2022 Budget was $6.27T with a $1.4T deficit
Trump's 2021 Budget was $6.82T with a $2.8T deficit___ TOTAL TRUMP $7.6T
Trump's 2020 Budget was $6.55T with a $3.1T deficit
Trump's 2019 Budget was $4.40T with a $0.9T deficit
Trump's 2018 Budget was $4.10T with a $0.8T deficit

3. My "break glass" budget item to cut is Welfare. That $1.3T line item should be sent back to the States who can put people to work for their benefits.

4. It is possible to get to a surplus, but Congress never does it. In addition to the above cuts of $1T - $2T, revenue can be raised by eliminating the Capital Gains tax break, putting everyone on SS & Medicare, no exceptions, taking SS & Medicare deductions from all income, I'd also add a "Transaction Tax" on all financial transactions.

 

[kyzr]

Because the debt has not gotten to the point where it is causing pain, thus nobody cares about it.

I disagree. Interest on the Debt is over $1T, it is more than Defense. It needs to be addressed.