While it appears that every day Americans may be DOGE-ing more waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, unfortunately, America is on an unsustainable financial path and the numbers don’t lie. The national debt has surged past $36.5 trillion, with no signs of slowing down. Both parties are complicit, but it is the left’s relentless push for government expansion, social programs, and reckless spending that has put us on the trajectory toward an inevitable $40 trillion in debt.
The fiscal budget line items nobody mentions
When you closely examine what’s happening with the fiscal budget, there are only four-line items that are substantive to the overall expenditures in the United States. Here they are:
1. Healthcare programs (Medicare and Medicaid)
These programs collectively account for approximately $1.67 trillion a year of spending, representing 24% of the federal budget. Medicare provides health coverage to seniors, while Medicaid assists low-income individuals. The aging population and rising healthcare costs make it challenging to curtail spending in this area.
2. Social Security
With an annual expenditure of about $1.5 trillion, Social Security constitutes 21% of the budget. It offers retirement and disability benefits to eligible citizens. Given its role as a primary income source for many retirees, any attempts to reduce benefits face significant political resistance.
3. Net interest on the debt
Here lies the part of the problem on why $40 trillion in debt is inevitable. Interest payments on the national debt are at a staggering $1.1 trillion dollars a year, comprising 15.6% of the budget. As the debt grows and interest rates rise, these debt payments are akin to a household that has runaway credit card debt on a one-way dead-end path to bankruptcy.
4. Defense spending
The defense budget stands at approximately $884 billion, accounting for 12.5% of federal spending. This includes funding for military operations, personnel, equipment, and research. National security concerns and geopolitical dynamics make defense cuts politically sensitive.
When you add up all four of these line items, it’s almost 73% of the overall fiscal budget. For certain, it makes sense to shake the federal government upside down like you were looking for coins in a couch because that is a start to reduce the overall government spending. However, it won’t make up for the money we still need to run these three major programs and as interest rates stay high, our own debt sinks us deeper and deeper into a hole.
Reducing spending in these areas is fraught with challenges. Healthcare and Social Security are vital to millions, and any cuts could have widespread social implications. Defense spending is closely tied to national security, making reductions politically contentious. Interest payments are obligatory; as the debt escalates, so do these payments, creating a vicious cycle.
