We are spending America into oblivion

Right now, Congress is trying to push a $3.5 trillion spending bill. It doesn’t occur to most in Washington that with a nearly $30 trillion national debt, we can’t afford this. They would spend more if they could and no doubt plan to.

This has to end. The disaster it will create is something no one in this country of any party or ideology will want to see.

Politicians have to learn: Money has to come from somewhere. Either we borrow it, we tax people for it, or we simply print the money. Borrowing it obviously puts us further in debt. It puts us further in China’s debt. With taxing, Americans endure enough government theft already.

Printing money out of thin air has consequences. When the Federal Reserve prints the money, we increase the money supply which makes the current dollar worth less and less. Our money loses its purchasing power.

Right now we’re facing five percent inflation. People are feeling it. They see prices going up on so many things. At the gas station. At the grocery store. It’s happening everywhere.

That’s why inflation is a regressive tax. When the working class and those with lower incomes have to pay more for goods and services, that cost falls on them. The prices are also increasing in large part because of the massive borrowing both parties instituted in the last year using the pandemic as their excuse. Politicians thought the best policy would be massive nationwide shutdowns that wrecked the economy and to also give away free money we can’t afford.

We all know how that worked out.

In 2020, our national debt stood at nearly 130 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. In 2019, it was 108 percent. This is how rapid federal spending is right now. In 2021, we are getting even closer to owing about a time-and-a-half of what the entire United States produces in a year.

This is about where Greece was financially when that country declared bankruptcy and was unable to pay its bills. It is foolish to believe there will be no consequences. We are already seeing the consequence of inflation. How many more do we have to see before we reverse course?

Because it could become much worse if spending continues at current levels. Right now, the federal government is accumulating $2 million in new debt per minute. That is absolute insanity. If you took Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, other welfare, military and other annual spending combined, we were already $1 trillion short every year to cover those costs. That was before we added another $2 trillion last year. Now everyone wants to add a few trillion more.

This country has never borrowed that much.

It is true that because the American dollar is a global currency, the U.S. has probably been shielded from some of the drastic or immediate consequences that befell Greece. But there are also immutable rules of economics that will eventually catch up to us. We inch closer to that line, every day.

No one can predict what or when something terrible might happen. The consequences of our spending addiction could happen gradually. It could also be sudden and drastic. If you look at the history of the U.S. market, we have had black swan events where over a week’s time most of the losses happen calamitously.

I don’t want calamity for our country. I want to change what we’re doing before we get that far.

But make no mistake: we are currently spending America into oblivion. We should stop.