Deficit? What Deficit?

What, Me Worry?

A Trillion.   That's a one with twelve zeros behind it.  The number is so huge that the human mind cannot comprehend it.  A Trillion seconds is equivalent to over 681,000 years. 

Yet, the U.S. government deficit - outlays minus revenues - will exceed not one $1 Trillion, not $2 Trillion, but about $2.7 Trillion this year.  And about the same next year.  And for several years afterward, according to latest estimates.  Divided into a population of 330 million, $2.7 Trillion works out to $8,200 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.  And remember: this is just the deficit, not total spending, which is about double that amount.

Here is a brief history of U.S. budget deficits, from WhiteHoust.gov. 

The U.S. government budget has vacillated between deficits and surpluses for a good chunk of its history.  The first $Billion-plus deficit happened in 1919, but was followed by several years of surpluses.  Beginning around 1931, $Billion deficits every year became the norm, with a few surplus years here and there.  $10 Billion deficits kicked in around 1942, and then $100 Billion deficits became the standard around 1982.  There were some actual surplus years from 1998 to 2001.  But in 2002, the $100 Billion deficits came back to stay, and have grown steadily since. 

Oh how I miss the good ole days when deficits were measured in mere Billions of dollars!

Rome

Off-hand, one would think that this is a serious matter that demands fixing.  This, incidentally, is what is behind the rampant inflation we are now experiencing, and no tinkering with interest rates by the Federal Reserve will fix it.  No nation cannot survive for long under the unbearable weight of out-of-control debt.  There are many historical precedents of wealthy nations and empires that collapsed thusly.  (See:  Rome.) 

So what are our politicians doing about it?   (sounds of crickets)

Mad Magazine's iconic character Alfred E. Neuman, pictured above, had a great motto:  "What, me worry?"  Your typical politician is as concerned about spiraling deficits as our Mad friend.

Here's my prediction:  $10 Trillion deficits will happen by 2030.  And $100 Trillion deficits by 2040.  (What comes next?  Quadrillion?)  Remember:  you read it here first.

Understand that talking about deficits and making campaign promises to reduce them is not the same thing as actually doing it.  Republicans are horribly guilty of this.  Donald Trump, in a campaign speech in April 2016, promised that the $19 Trillion national debt would be "eliminated" in eight years.  We all see now how that turned out.  But unfortunately, that's pretty much the norm for Republicans.

Meanwhile, the Democrats cheer on the deficit.  Their economic theory, for some bizarre reason, holds that deficits are actually good - something about "economic stimulus."  If that was true, then what the heck are taxes for?  Wouldn't it be so-much-simpler to abolish the entire tax-collecting apparatus of government and just pay for the entirety of spending via deficits?

Unfortunately, the cold hard facts are that people - voters - want it both ways.  They love their goodies and bennies and freebies and other tax-supported special interests.  Everybody has pet government projects and programs and other "good causes" that make us feel like government accomplishes great things.  And deficit spending is a painless way to have our cake and eat it too.  We get everything we want - and then some - but don't have to pay for it via taxes.

You are probably thinking:  aren't there some politicians out there who recognize the scam of deficit spending for what it truly is, and offer up credible and convincing plans to restore fiscal sanity?  Absolutely.  Many elections have them: candidates who would immediately, upon being elected, cut government budgets down to 5% of present size.  Or less.  But those kinds of politicians are ignored or branded as crazy lunatics, and typically only get about .00000001% voter interest.

The Man In The Mirror

The bottom line is this:  if you want to see who the truly guilty party is, then take Michael Jackson’s advice and look in the mirror.  Yeah, that guy or gal, looking back at you - that's the culprit, who casts a vote for a Republican or Democrat, not realizing that those two ingrained parties are the problem, not the solution.  Voting for them is essentially saying:  I like what you're doing, and want you to keep doing it.  It just reinforces everything that is wrong with this nation.