‘Doomsday Clocks’ Likely Needed Before Congress Hikes Debt Limit (Difficult Questions With $31.5 TRILLION in Federal Debt And A Staggering $173.6 TRILLION in UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (Social Security, Medicare, Etc.))

by confoundedinterest17

Its that point again when Congress does its Kabuki Theater drama about raising the US debt limit. After all, everyone in Congress and the Biden Administration need to spend trillions of dollars so they are going to hike the debt limit.

With the US government facing the danger of a payments default later this 12 months, Congress has a wide range of paths to avert economic disaster and boost the debt ceiling.

All of them would likely involve going right as much as the market-rattling brink, in response to current and former lawmakers and aides.

The timeline kicks off inside weeks, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is predicted to advise that the federal government will deploy extraordinary accounting measures to avoid running out of money. Those steps are forecast to be exhausted after July.

Republicans now in charge of the House are demanding deep spending cuts as the worth for a rise within the ceiling, while President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats reject such an end result.

Nothing has been the identical for the reason that financial crisis of 2008 and the ascension of all-time big spender Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker. Budget deficits have never been the identical. The last budget surplus was under House Speaker Newt Gingrich. But for the reason that financial crisis of 2008, Federal spending seems to have increased its trajectory.

Note that mandatory spending (Medicare, Social Security, etc) is growing like a wild fire while discretionary spending is seemingly flat. So, it mandatory spending that Congress will pretend to chop.

Yes, it’s Medicare for our aging population that has blown uncontrolled.

Then we’ve defense spending. The Ukraine spending should come from this pot, but forces decisions to make between Ukraine and taking good care of our Navy (to compete with the growing Chinese navy).

After all, as The Fed fights inflation, we’re seeing the COST of Federal debt soaring since Covid.

And the US is facing, along with $31.5 TRILLION in debt, a whopping $173.6 TRILLION in UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (Social Security, Medicare, etc).

Yes, Congress NEEDS to reduce the spending, particularly on Social Security and Medicare (not to say Ukraine spending), but it surely is all Kabuki theater. Queue the screams of “Republicans will take away …”.