Recently I watched a movie called “Don't Look Up”, a comedy-disaster spoof where astronomers discover a comet that will strike the earth and destroy everything. But nobody cares. The U.S.
The debt problem is actually much easier to solve than by "spending less" --- just stop "spending more". Don't "cut" anything - just don't increase the budget any MORE and we would naturally grow the economy and tax revenue to cover annual deficits. As for the debt itself, a portion of that 31T is scheduled to be retired - paid off - every year. Paying off the debt is already part of the annual budget. But only if government isn't accelerating spending. If the government identifies a program that MUST be increased beyond inflation, then it must identify something that they will cut commensurate with the increase. This isn't pie in the sky wishful thinking. It's not contrarian logic. It is exactly how the government has all along planned to reduce the debt and it's what both Republicans and Democrats are willing to agree to. The only question is WHEN they will commit to doing it.
The debt problem is actually much easier to solve than by "spending less" --- just stop "spending more". Don't "cut" anything - just don't increase the budget any MORE and we would naturally grow the economy and tax revenue to cover annual deficits. As for the debt itself, a portion of that 31T is scheduled to be retired - paid off - every year. Paying off the debt is already part of the annual budget. But only if government isn't accelerating spending. If the government identifies a program that MUST be increased beyond inflation, then it must identify something that they will cut commensurate with the increase. This isn't pie in the sky wishful thinking. It's not contrarian logic. It is exactly how the government has all along planned to reduce the debt and it's what both Republicans and Democrats are willing to agree to. The only question is WHEN they will commit to doing it.
That's how Canada did it. Flatline spending - or limit increase by 1% per annum.
Problem is - this would require entitlement reform here. On a big scale. W mentioned it and was pilloried. Twenty years later, the problem is worse.