The reason the US government is shut down is because nobody would vote 'yes' to raise the debt ceiling so that the Fed could borrow $5Trillion more dollars to make the required monthly payments for the interest-owing on the US Nation Debt, which is now almost $40T.
By shutting down the government, they save money which amounts to the same thing as borrowing more money to pay the Federal employees PLUS pay the monthly interest-owing on the National Debt. Shutting down the government is therefore a great way to keep expenses low and manageable!
Trump actually thought that tariffs would solve the National Debt crisis but all tariffs have done is put Americans in the poor house.
@Theyitis OH YES IT DOES have everything to do with the debt ceiling!
Keeping healthcare costs low and shutting down the government in support of that initiative is all smoke and mirrors, because the US government is technically bankrupt.
@swirlie Trump's sign debt ceiling was raised higher than Bidens debt ceiling!
What the Republicans refuse to talk about is raising taxes on the top 10%. They pay little to no taxes.
That's the issue that Democrats should be protesting over.
None of this would be an issue if Republicans taxed the top 10%. Yes, like Trump himself. Yes, like half of Trump's advisors. Yes, like Elon Musk who stands to benefit the most.
The last was why Elon Musk was so ecstatic to be heading up DOGE. He knows exactly, what he cut, and can take advantage of it.
@DeWayfarer Yep, we've got two separate issues here: borrowing authority and spending authority. As you said, with tRump's $5 trillion debt limit raise, borrowing authority isn't a problem. But there's no bill authorizing spending, not even an interim continuing resolution like they usually do.
The argument in Congress is about health care tax credits and subsidies provided by the ACA. Republicans say they want to hash that out later; Democrats won't sign pass any bill that doesn't explicitly continue the ACA credits and subsidies.
Republicans are further claiming that the ACA credits and subsidies will pay for health care for undocumented, however this is false, as verified by Republican Marjorie Taylor Green
@ElwoodBlues A bit more complicated, yet what you have is true enough.
Any spending Congress does or does not authorize doesn't mean it can not either be implemented or not implemented by Trump.
Yet he would prefer to put the blame on Democrats rather than do what he did with DOGE or interfere with Medicare. Remember his promise to not cut Medicare. He wants that to be on Congress if not the Democrats.
What? A clean CR? The same as the republicans supported the dems on the last 13 times they asked for it? I think not and you know not as well. @DeWayfarer
None of this would be an issue if Republicans taxed the top 10%.
Oh, I fully agree! I mentioned somewhere in a previous post about this same thing that Trump approved a debt ceiling increase of $5 Trillion which is a number he said he needed, which was announced prior to the release of Project 2025.
The main reason for this significant increase compared to other past Presidents is that investors are demanding a higher rate of return from the Fed for investing large sums of capital into the US government.
The USA is now considered a high risk compared to other Nations because it is actually impossible for the US to ever re-pay any of the money that investors have put into it so far, which technically means the USA is bankrupt.
That being said, with higher risk comes higher rates of return on investment and raising the debt ceiling by $5 Trillion was only to cover the increase in net interest percentile that Trump will now have to pay those high-net-worth investors to keep the Fed supplied with money, simply because banks won't get involved with US debt anymore.
@swirlie Trump is attempting to get around the federal reserve with non fungable coins though with his own NFC reserve. Will be interesting to see what the International Money Fund will do about that. There is some moves into recognizing bit coin. Yet that's the only NFC.
Actually jack, Canada is comfortably solvent, but thank you for asking.
In fact, Canada could pay off the US national debt ten times over from the sale of minerals and natural resources buried in Canadian soil, in addition to known crude oil reserves located in Canada's mid-west alone that dwarf those known oil reserves in Saudi Arabia and Iraq combined.
Now that the USA is no longer a front line player with Canadian trade and commerce, those crude oil supplies and natural resources mentioned are already being mined, drilled and extracted from the ground and are being sent to Asia, Europe and India, instead of to our old, traditional trading partners located south of the 49th Parallel.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention nuclear power generation in Canada as well, which of course supplies 90% of the electricity to the United States, with the exception of Texas and Hawaii who generate their own juice.
50% of America's fresh water supply is also provided by Canada as well jack, because American ground water supplies are contaminated from agricultural chemical use from coast to coast which were banned from use in Canada 50 years ago, but I won't get into that one just now since I'm sure you get my point!
The only way to significantly decrease the debt is to increase the income. A higher GNP increases income. Onshoring more employers creates more taxable income. I would be fine with taxing the top 5% proportionately with a ONE TIME TAX the total of which would pay the entire debt and their portfolios would never notice. @DeWayfarer
@jackjjackson No, not at all do I agree with you. Cash in the bank is no different than assets in the ground. They both have the equivalent cash value at any point in time.
First the ones in the ground have to be dig up, then transported then prepared for sale and actually sold. All of these middlemen take profits. The original assets may not be as much as projected. There are also all the environmentalists who will work to stall everything. @swirlie
@jackjjackson We do all that in-house here. It's sort of like digging up a bunch of dirt and driving the truck right to the bank and dumping it at the Teller's booth, then asking for it all to be converted into easy-to-carry currency. Easy peezy!
