Excerpts from Confessions of an Old Man
“There’s nothing like doing things with other people’s money.” President Donald Trump
Every US president since Reagan has added hundreds of billions to the national debt compared to his predecessor. President Trump may top all the previous presidents by having an estimated annual deficit of $1 trillion by 2020 or even sooner. Congress and the White House have been living on the backs of the younger generation since 1980 by continuing to spend more than they collect in taxes. They have no plans to balance the budget, nor do they have any plans to pay back the principal on the debt. Having no intention or plans to pay the national debt is nothing less than stealing from the MI generation.
In May 2016 candidate Trump proudly claimed, “I’m the king of debt. I love debt.” As president, he has made it clear that he does not mind if deep tax cuts result in a ballooning of the national debt. He proved that by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017. During the 2016 campaign, candidate Trump bragged about using other people’s money. He said:
“It’s called OPM. I do that all the time in business. It’s called other people’s money. There’s nothing like doing things with other people’s money.”
However, in this case, OPM is coming from the MI generation. The reason Congress and the White House don’t care and continue to add to the national debt is because it is not their problem. Congress’s own self-interest trumps any concerns it may have for high national debt’s detrimental impact on future generations. They will be long gone before any of the serious problems from uncontrolled national debt surface.
“The most significant threat to our national security is our debt,” said former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen back in 2010. He went on to state:
“That’s why it’s so important that the economy move in the right direction, because the strength and the support and the resources that our military uses are directly related to the health of our economy over time.”
Seven years later, Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, in her testimony to Congress in November 2017 about the national debt that was estimated to surpass $20 trillion, stated:
“The debt is the type of thing that should keep people awake at night…This should be a very significant concern.”
Yet all these warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Congress is exporting millions of American jobs, making it the largest exporter of jobs.
What if Trump cancels $1.4 trillion in student loans instead of giving tax breaks to the top one percenters?…More