America's Talking - Deficit Nears $2 Trillion as Lawmakers Borrow $5 Billion per Day

Episode Date: October 12, 2024

The U.S. annual deficit is nearing $2 trillion for this fiscal year, almost double the record deficits before the COVID-19 pandemic, as federal borrowing hit more than $5 billion per day. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office reported that the federal deficit hit an estimated $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2024, $139 billion higher than the deficit from the previous fiscal year. The troubling deficit news comes as the national debt continues to soar, drawing closer to $36 trillion. “Within the next dozen years, three major trust funds – for highways, Medicare, and Social Security – will run out of reserves, forcing us to reckon with even tougher decisions on how to keep important government priorities afloat,” Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to America in Focus powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAulb, Chief Content Officer at Franklin News Foundation, publisher of the Center Square Newswire Service. With election season dominating the news cycle, voters want to know where the top presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter most to them and how their policies will help improve their lives in this complicated world. Issues such as inflation, the economy and jobs, illegal immigration, with more than 14 million migrants crossing into the U.S. since President

Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, abortion rights, health care, and more. All are front and center in voters' minds. One issue that really isn't getting much attention or airplay is the ballooning national debt. Joining me to discuss this today is Casey Harper, Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for the Center Square. Casey, you wrote this week that the annual budget deficit is nearing two trillion dollars, almost double the record deficits before the COVID-19 pandemic. Why is this not getting that much attention? Dan, that is a great question because it's hard to overstate the seriousness of this issue. I mean, part of it is there's some numbness that this has been so bad for so many years and

nothing has changed that I'm not sure that you write these stories, they don't get as many clicks as maybe they, as you would hope. And so the media starts to ignore it. But this is a very serious issue. And of course, we cover it at the center square.com because we cover the taxpayer perspective. And so as you said, nearly $2 trillion this last fiscal year, that's a huge number. And just to put it in perspective, Dan, when you look at the debt, the annual, the deficit, as I know you know, but this is a reminder for everyone, is how much money we borrow in one year, which is compared to the debt, which is our overall. amount of debt that we have, right? And so the two trillion dollar number is so much higher than what

we had even 10 or 15 years ago. I mean, just before we came into the pandemic, the deficit had never topped one trillion dollars. That was sort of a red line. It was just like a easy, good goal for Congress to not go over one trillion. But then the pandemic came and they said, well, it's an emergency. And we'll come back to that. because emergency spending. So the emergency came in. Of course, they spent trillions of dollars. That's one of the reasons we had such rampant inflation recently.

You know, they increased some money supply very significantly. They spent trillions of dollars partially because of the pandemic. That the deficits went up over $2 trillion. And we said, well, you know, people say, well, it's a pandemic. You know, this happens. But now, Dan, the pandemic is over. Well over. And here we are, as maybe anyone with a cynical view of government could have predicted,

and we're still near these two trillion dollar deficits. It's similar to what happened with the Iraq and Afghanistan war. I mean, we essentially had very, very little debt before those wars, borrowed a ton of money to fight those wars. And even when the wars really dampened down and weren't the main focus and weren't costing as much, we had created this precedent of this runaway spending. And I think the same has happened with deficits in COVID. So we're in this new era of our $2 trillion deficit is apparently normal.

And this is as the national debt comes near to $36 trillion. That's trillion with a T. Correct. And I guess I can get, you know, that when you think about that kind of amount of debt, it's hard to grasp, I guess. But if this was your personal finances and you've maxed out multiple credit cards and you've got a mortgage and you've got two car payments and inflation is where it's been the past three and a half years. That's going to consume you individually.

Working on your own personal debt, it's going to be a huge issue for a family, right? The U.S. is beyond maxing out its credit card. Oh, yeah. But nobody's talking about it. The center squares Brett Rowland wrote this week about former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and Vice President Kamal Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, both of their fiscal plans have gone through analysis,

and they're both going to add trillions of dollars to the national debt. But nobody's holding them accountable for that. Yeah, both candidates' plans, as you said, we add to the debt. And you talked about the individual level of this. If you took the national debt and you divided up per, you know, per American, it's over $100,000 per person in debt. So this is, I mean, this is not like, what with this big debt? But, you know, it's a whole country. I mean, if you split it up, it's more debt than any American has except for their mortgage for most Americans.

right? And to keep with your household budget analogy, just reminded, Dan, that the interest payments on the national debt are, you know, if you just look at the projections in the next decade, you know, the 2030s, the interest payments on the national debt are set to be by far the largest expense. So to extend your metaphor, imagine how bad your financial situation would be. If your largest household expense was not medical bills, was not, you know, mortgage, was not car payments, it was interest payments on your credit cards and on your mortgage. I mean, that is a level of bankruptcy that, you know, most Americans aren't even allowed to get to because of the credit card companies wouldn't let you probably, you know, borrow that much. So it's kind of crazy. but to mention that poll you brought up, the center square's voters voice poll, inflation ranks as the number one most important issue for Americans. Now, of course, part of that is because prices have risen more than 20% since, you know, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office.

And so it is top of mind. Now, the economy is usually, economic issues are usually top of mind for voters. But 47% that's, you know, the second place is illegal immigration. the economy is at 32%. For all the talk about abortion, and Democrats are talking about a lot because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade, only 26% of Americans rank it as their top issue. So almost twice as many Americans say inflation over abortion,

which if you read the news every day, you might think abortion. And then you get down to other issues. I mean, health care, you know, corruption. And then way down here, national debt and government spending is only at 14%. And so it's funny that inflation gets so much attention, whereas government spending doesn't when they're so related. I think Americans feel, you know, I think there's sort of a pessimism, Dan, because let's say you are a voter, one of these 14% of voters who say government spending and national debt

is your top concern. Who's your candidate, Dan? I mean, even in Congress, most Republicans have abandoned the fiscal responsibility mantle. I mean, maybe they still have it, but it's not their top priority the way it was maybe 15 to 20 years ago. I mean, you can even remember a sort of Paul Ryan era where there's this emphasis on the budget. It's totally, there's no candidate. There's no voice for you. And so I'm not sure how you even remain passionate about cutting down government spending

because Democrats and Republicans, at least for now, have ignored the issue. But if you look at these budget projections, Dan, they will not be able to ignore it forever because, you know, Social Security, which I know you think about a lot these days, is set to be insolvent. I mean, and it's not the only program. I know. So the reckoning is coming. Play more to talk about here, Casey, but we are out of time.

Thank you for joining us. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at thecentersquare.com.