Hillary Clinton writes in The New York Times that Republican insistence to link any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling to spending control and cuts threatens our national security.
“It’s a sad irony that Mr. McCarthy and many of the same congressional Republicans seemingly intent on sabotaging America’s global leadership by refusing to pay our debts are also positioning themselves as tougher-than-thou China hawks.”
Clinton is right that our enemies, Russia and China, see America today as weak and are using the opportunity to strengthen their influence around the world.
But the reason they see the supposed leader of the free world as weak is not because America refuses to “pay our debts.”
Russia and China see our nation as fiscally and morally corrupt, and they are right.
Whether we’re speaking about a nation, or an individual, absence of self-discipline is a sign of weakness.
The only words that capture fiscal reality in our country today are “profligate” and “undisciplined.”
The Congressional Budget Office projects $2 trillion deficits over the next decade. It projects national debt, today equal to 100% of our GDP, to reach a record 118% of GDP in 2033 and, by 2053, almost twice the size of GDP.
Average federal spending, per CBO, over the last 30 years, from 1972 to 2022, was 20.9% of GDP. In 2023, it is projected to reach 23.7% of GDP and by 2033, 25.3%.
Yet, this does not seem to bother President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats at all.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and fellow Republicans are putting on the table a plan to at least start getting our fiscal house in order, but Biden has noted he has zero interest in any conversation. He wants unconditional agreement to raise, once again, the nation’s debt ceiling.
Why does it even matter that we should get things under control? Many important reasons.
One, the more that fruits of our hard work are diverted to government rather than productive and creative use in the private marketplace, national productivity suffers. We’re already seeing the results of this.
As economist and blogger Scott Grannis has pointed out, the U.S. economy grew annually 3.1% per year from 1950 to 2007. Since then, average growth has been 2.2% per year. Economist Steve Moore at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity estimates that this one percentage point drop in annual GDP growth, due to more and bigger government, has lopped off about $15,000 in median family income. If we had continued the 3.1% growth, the average American would have some 22% higher income, per Moore.
Second, we’ve just gone through a period experiencing the ravages of inflation, the direct result of government spending and pouring increasing amounts of money into the marketplace that are not backed up by productive resources.
Third, higher interest costs. A byproduct of inflationary pressure is increasing interest rates. Higher rates translate into ever-increasing interest costs on our debt burden in the federal budget. The CBO projects that in 10 years, in 2033, interest costs in the federal budget will reach 3.6% of GDP. If defense spending remains around where it is today, interest costs in the federal budget will exceed defense spending.
Which takes us back to Clinton’s laughable claim that the Republican push for some fiscal responsibility threatens national security.
Republicans want to reset the federal budget baseline to 2022 and limit increases over the next 10 years to 1% per year. Total savings would be $4 trillion over 10 years.
This can be described as a dose of prudence. It certainly can’t be called draconian.
But prudence is the last thing our irresponsible president wants to hear about. He and his party want a blank check on the earning power of the American people.
But, as Margaret Thatcher once said, sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.
Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
Only criminals refuse to abide by the rules, that includes those who refuse to pay their bills.
HIllary, along with the entire DemocRat Party, not only wants to seize the bulk of American assets but fix it so the Republicans will look like fools when they attempt to get responsible fiscal control of government spending. The DemocRat Party has become the Communistic tool of foreign Commie Nations.
No one cares what hellary thinks anymore, her opinion is obsolete she needs to just go away and shut up ????
When is Beijing biden going to be charged with Espionage and High Treason?
Ok like I’m gonna listen what hillary is gonna say or any one else for that mater she’s another lieing fool that wants to destroy America ???????? my question is when are these treasonist leaders gonna be held responsible for their crimes, the American people are tired of these basterds ripping us off and getting away with it enough with the excuse let’s get down to business.
Hillary is a loser and her past efforts scream loud and clear those results. Would you back Clinton when many thought we got rid of them and the White House bed and breakfast was closed. Feel sorry for New York Times , seems so sad they must print articles to fill the paper written by some who may be considered less than top shelf sources. With new articles written about and for Trump some feel that the paper may have to print an”Extra” to keep up with demand!!!Old Chinese saying” more debt, more scraped off the top”. Trump now Trump 24!!!!!
To provide the readers with a little reality check, all the Republican House proposal put forth by McCarthy would do is simply roll back federal spending levels to what we were spending just 4 months ago. That’s right folks. That’s all the proposal does. It just rolls back spending to the insanely elevated levels of 2022. Which were almost 50% above the spending levels of 2019. So we’re hardly talking about draconian budget cuts that will cripple the nation. We’re literally talking baby steps here.
The spending rollbacks will however slash spending for a lot of the worthless transformational spending associated with Climate Change, that made up so much of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA Act). So that would hit the big donors to the Democrat Party quite hard. They are counting on that flood of federal money, which is now estimated to amount to more than $1.2 trillion dollars over 10 years, to line their pockets with countless boondoggle deals.
The rollback would also impact the IRS’ ability to fully hire all 87,000 new IRS agents to begin the accelerated amounts of audits of the middle class in order to raise revenues for future Democrat spending priorities.
Yet the Democrats claim, once again, that the sky will fall and all will die if we curtail even this very modest amount of spending rollback in exchange for raising the debt ceiling $1.5 trillion dollars. The insanity that is Washington, D.C. continues unabated with the likely outcome that Biden will sit on his hands (or maybe just one hand as he still needs one hand free to eat his chocolate chip ice cream cone daily) until the 11th hour as the MSM echos every doomsayer’s most ludicrous fantasies. In the end, under great pressure from the non-stop MSM, the RINOs in the House and Senate will cave and the debt ceiling will be raised yet again with almost nothing to show for the effort. So the live theater that is Washington, D.C. continues. Are we having fun yet?
Levin would be getting a divorce and marry, big bag of alligator/crock O Dial poop from Florida
Super lawyers are super naacp crooks, Alvin Biggs should be jail for 45 years
So the Republicans are again embarking on the losing strategy of holding the country hostage with the debt ceiling. The markets are crashing and, with them, the Republican support.
Republicans better learn to work together with the Democrats for the good of the country. If this continues, more and more people will vote Democrat. I say this as a right-leaning independent. I voted for Trump in 2020 but come 24 I am voting Biden. Y’all insist on sticking to the same old failed strategies, don’t be surprised when the Republicans are losing by double digit margins.
Go ahead, downvote my comment as much as you like. But remember, that’s the only power you really have. Mainstream America will be downvoting you. Love from the swing state of GA. See you in 2024.
It would be more helpful if Hillary would have hopped on her broom and went sky diving in some remote region of the Rockie Mts. She still thinks she is hot stuff … even tho Bill found hotter stuff he liked better throw-out most of his adult life. Hillary makes hot news items for the press that they are forever grateful.
Bullcrap
And yet those on the right are always silent went a Republican President exploded the debt. Funny how that works.