As the debt bomb grows, it’s always someone else’s fault | George Korda

We’ve gone through another election cycle without discussion of the greatest single danger to every citizen of the United States. It’s a nonexplosive bomb that will inevitably blow up in all our faces. When it happens, the only certainty is that everyone responsible will point fingers at someone else.

Threats and dangers to America are afoot at every turn. But the biggest of them – America’s annual deficits and national debt – are almost never mentioned by national leaders of either major political party, except to condemn members of the other party.

In the year 2000, the national debt was $5.6 trillion. Since then, the debt – our debt – has surpassed $31 trillion and grows by about $3 billion a day. We, the taxpayers, are accountable for the debt that is nearing $100,000 each for all 330 million Americans. In 10 years, interest payments alone are projected to be $1.2 trillion annually.

We owe this debt. Not the government. Not the administration in office. Not senators or representatives. We, the people, owe it. And it’s not something about which politicians like to speak.

Simplistic, partisan talking points come from both sides

In the 2016 presidential campaign, eventual winner Donald Trump managed to mention the national debt in his nomination acceptance speech: “Reduce our $18 trillion in debt, because, believe me, we’re in a bubble.” The bubble is today more gargantuan. Trump supporters will say it was the financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic that drove the additional borrowing. His detractors will say it was his tax cuts. Both are simplistic, partisan talking points.

In 2022, Joe Biden is president, and his record on the deficit and debt doesn’t match his rhetoric. In the run-up to the midterm elections, CNN’s Facts First reviewed Biden’s statements and record: “Fact Check: Biden’s Midterm Message Includes False and Misleading Claims”:

“It’s not true that Biden has “cut the federal debt in half”; the federal debt (total borrowing plus interest owed) has continued to rise under Biden, exceeding $31 trillion for the first time this October. Rather, it’s the federal deficit – the annual difference between spending and revenue – that was cut in half between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022.

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“Second, it’s highly questionable how much credit Biden deserves for even the reduction in the deficit. Biden doesn’t mention that the primary reason the deficit plummeted in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 was that it had skyrocketed to a record high in 2020 because of emergency pandemic relief spending. It then fell as expected as the spending expired as planned.”

Presidents alone aren’t responsible for this fiscal calamity, but they’re the biggest players on the field and get most of the credit or blame. The U.S. ran a small surplus at the end of President Bill Clinton’s administration – with a Republican Congress that at that time made budget discipline a priority. Democrats and Republicans each used spending restraint to their political advantage. Then, not now.

The amount of debt added under the last four presidents

The personal finance website the Balance has analyzed how much debt has been added to our burden under each president. Here are its numbers for the last four presidents:

• George W. Bush, Republican: $5.85 trillion

• Barack Obama, Democrat: $8.6 trillion

• Donald Trump, Republican: $6.7 trillion

• Joe Biden, Democrat, actual and projected through the end of fiscal year 2022: $3.34 trillion. So far, and we’re not halfway through his term of office.

In a conversation with a U.S. senator (I didn’t at the time ask permission to attribute this, thus the lack of identification), I asked why no one in Congress was willing to do anything about the deficit and debt. The answer: “There’s no political will on either side.”

One-dimensional reasons and suggestions

Depending on one’s political party allegiance, an abundance of one-dimensional reasons blaming the other side are adopted for how we got here. Among them: Trump’s tax cuts, it’s argued, led to greater deficits. But some data show the federal government took in more money with increased economic activity; however, spending accelerated.

Another is that if only the wealthiest 1% of Americans were taxed, we could pay for everything everyone wants.

Yet another: raising taxes on corporations will solve the problem. What those arguments never consider is that corporations don’t pay taxes: the customers of the corporations pay taxes. Raising taxes means raising prices. Some will argue that businesses should simply absorb the increase. These people contend that someone who isn’t them can pay more without it having an effect on prices, employees or operations. They can think this way because they’re naïve, and also because everything is easy from a distance.

Others say all it requires is reigning in entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) But these folks often want defense spending left alone. It won’t work.

There’s no political benefit to taking a stand against the long-term danger of debt: few people want to be told what they can’t have but are usually willing to say what someone else shouldn’t have. Many Americans become mesmerized by the siren song of “free” college, “free” health care, “free” child care and “free” other stuff. But nothing – not one thing – is free. The only question is who pays.

The U.S. is living on an unlimited credit card. In the wake of the 2008 international economic downturn, burgeoning debt caused Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and other countries to adopt “austerity” budgets. Riots were common.

At some point, Americans are going to be told by their government that it can’t continue to borrow to pay for what Americans have become used to receiving. What will happen when the debt bomb goes off here?

One thing on which you can count is that those who’ve been in power will be absolutely certain that it’s someone else’s fault.

George Korda is a political analyst for WATE-TV, hosts “State Your Case” from noon to 2 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7 and is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: George Korda: As the debt bomb grows, it’s always someone else’s fault