Reality check – which would you prefer: $1 trillion in new federal debt, or a $1 trillion spending reduction?

Photo above – Batman's greatest foe – Congress – shows how they view money.
Not shown – Why the US military base in Djibouti (one of 800 worldwide) is vital and cannot be closed.

US Government To Borrow $1,000,000,000,000 in Q3 As Deficit Widens and Debt Servicing Costs Shatter 11-Year High: Treasury Estimate - The Daily Hodl

US Debt Explodes by $865,000,000,000 in One Month – Larger Than Finland, Hong Kong and Greece's Combined GDP - The Daily Hodl

It's not just me. Lots of people are saying “I told you so”. After the prez signed that spending limit increase in June, was there any place for the national debt to go except up? But really . . . $1 TRILLION in a single month?

Okay – that was a trick question. The national debt actually went up about $2 Trillion (+/-). The first trillion was LAST month – (July). And again, this week. Here we are in the first week of August, and borrowing is already going up ANOTHER trillion. Two months in a row. (See the links above.) August's increase is described as “unexpected/worse than expected.” Really? The government's budget people didn't expect this? Are they bad at math, or just bad liars?

Okay – some people are jumping up and down and screeching that “$1 trillion (or two) is just chump change”. Please sit down and check your meds. If $2 trillion is chump change, why can't congress and the president just cut this from our spending? Think about it, chumpers . . .

Total 2023 federal spending will be $6.4 trillion, give or take. So in two months we're going to borrow 1/3 of the entire federal budget? Shut the front door! Where is all this money going? Tickets to Taylor Swift's “Eras” tour? It's going to be worth $1 Trillion to the US economy, according to several pundits. Taylor is doing so well she just gave her roadies $100,000 bonus checks. To her, $100,000 IS chump change.

Quick – can anyone name the 4 largest categories of Federal spending? Don't be embarrassed if you can't – you're in good company. A lot of people in this forum can't do it either. Here's the view from 30,000 kilometers (not feet - government experts say the metric system should be used for everything . . .)

Defense – over $1.2 Trillion. We have more than 800 military bases worldwide. If you tried to visit one every week, you'd be dead before you could finish the trip. Can anyone please tell me why we have bases in Cameroon and Djibouti? Why does the “US Space Force” have a secret base in Greenland? Do we launch astronauts or war satellites from there? Why does each B2 bomber cost 2B ($2 Billion)? Don't try and pivot on this by saying that we only have a dozen or so B2 bombers. That only makes it sound even MORE insane. A plane that costs as much as an entire aircraft carrier????

Social Security and federal pensions – $1.5 trillion. STOP!!!! I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear uninformed whining that social security doesn't count. It absolutely does. Social Security is a line item in the federal budget - look it up. Why the heck do you think politicians are constantly threatening to reduce benefits? Or raise payroll taxes? Social security taxes being collected today already fail to cover the monthly benefits paid out - during alleged record high job creation. Bonus tragedy – during the pandemic, millions of aging workers were forced out of their jobs early and filed to collect benefits. And millions more who are under 62 but unemployed are legally entitled to a piece of the social security pie because they're unfit to work. This is an area that demands reform on taxes, benefits, and eligibility.

Healthcare – nearly $ 2 Trillion – Okay, I get it. Despite what we were told, Obamacare was NEVER going to help balance the federal budget. Or extend our lifespans. Or let us keep the same doctors and insurance plans. Government legislation throughout US history has never reduced medical expenses or added a healthy day to anyone's life. Don't start chanting “pandemic, pandemic”. We are going to face unexpected new viruses from now until kingdom come. China just got caught injecting mice with Covid and HIV in some converted California bowling alley. Half of a typical American's lifetime medical expenses are incurred in the final 6 months of life. Can we take a look here? Is it vital that all conceivable technologies be used right until the moment of my death?

Interest on the National Debt – nearly $1 Trillion. That's the cost to borrow the $33 trillion we ALREADY owe. And the interest payments are only going to go up. WAAAAY up. The current average T-Bill rate is around 3%. But because of America's exploding debt and crappy federal FICO score, the most recent batch of T-Bills are paying 5.5% to Saudi Arabia and China. About double what we're usually on the hook for. Future shock alert: if the interest rate on ALL the federal debt doubles like that, it means ANOTHER trillion (more or less) in interest cost each year.

Okay – so we borrowed $2 trillion in just 2 months. And all our elected politicians – as well as the bureaucracies which report to them – CANNOT FIND ANYTHING TO CUT?

Either they're lying, or we're doomed. Our kids should start looking for other places to live. Maybe line up and rush the border with Greenland? I'm willing to ride it out here in America until the end. But I don't want my kids to suffer. Won't somebody PULEEZE think of the children . . . ?

I'm just sayin' . . .