Out-of-Control Spending and Debt Means More Tyranny

08-04-2024 • https://www.fff.org, by Jacob G. Hornberger

It's worth mentioning that that federal debt load does not include Social Security and Medicare obligations or the obligations arising from other "unfunded liabilities."

This fiscal situation is not getting any better. That's because the federal government is spending more than it's bringing in with taxes. A lot more. Around $2 trillion per year. That means that more money is being added onto the federal debt load each year, which means that each taxpayer's share of what is owed will be lots more than $267,000.

How many taxpayers could withstand the IRS coming to their homes and businesses and seizing $267,000? I'd venture not very many. Yet, one can assume that before the federal government defaults on its debt, it is going to resort to tyrannical means to get a hold of as much money as it can. In the 1930s, the feds seized people's gold and replaced them with government notes. More recently, in Argentina the government seized people's retirement accounts and replaced them with government bonds.

For Democrats, none of this is a problem. Their position can be summed up with the words of Alfred E. Neuman: "What, me worry?" As far as they are concerned, the government can continue spending and borrowing like there was no tomorrow. Some of them are even convinced that massive government spending and borrowing are the key to economic prosperity.

For Republicans, the solution is simple: Just balance the budget, so that no more borrowing is necessary. Given that they oppose tax increases to accomplish that, that means a major slashing of expenditures. Yet, when one asks a Republican where the slashing should take place, he stammers and stutters and walks away muttering to himself.