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The Coming US Default (1 Viewer)

Liberty One

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As much as we might wish otherwise, the United States is heading toward a debt default, and there’s little anyone can do to stop it—at least not until economic forces force our hand.

Unlike Greece, which was forced into austerity measures to avoid defaulting on its debt, the US finds itself in a uniquely precarious position. Greece had the IMF, European Union, and other international forces pressuring them to cut spending and restructure their economy. The US, on the other hand, has no such external accountability. The government can continue to spend beyond its means, running trillion-dollar deficits year after year, without any international body to reign it in.

The right wing often talks about cutting spending, but let’s be real—how many times have we heard that promise, only to see it go unfulfilled? The politicians who claim to advocate for fiscal responsibility have been in power for decades, and yet government spending continues to grow at an unsustainable rate. The real outcome of this rhetoric is that the size of the government only increases, the military-industrial complex expands, and the government’s reach into our personal lives continues to grow.

On the other side, the left offers a solution: tax the rich. But again, we know this is nothing more than a political talking point. They’ve had plenty of chances to try this policy but they will never betray their donor class. Even if this were to happen, it won’t be nearly enough to close the massive budget gaps. Let’s face it: the rich have the resources to protect their wealth, and even if tax rates rise, the federal government’s dependency on debt will continue to increase.

We are stuck in a cycle of denial. The politicians can’t make the hard choices. They won’t cut spending, and they won’t raise taxes in a way that addresses the true fiscal imbalance. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve will keep printing money, pushing the nation further into debt. This path will only end one way: an inevitable economic collapse that could force the US to default.

Unfortunately, no one will do anything about this until the economic forces make them. When the debt becomes too large to sustain, when inflation spirals out of control, when the dollar loses its standing as the global reserve currency—only then will the government be forced to confront the consequences of its fiscal irresponsibility. By that point, it may be too late to avoid a full-blown default, which could lead to a massive loss of wealth, social unrest, and a dramatic restructuring of our economy.

No one in DC will do anything to stop this, and when the pain really starts to hit, they will try and keep the scheme going for as long as they can instead of trying to address the issue, which will only make things even worse.

I don’t see any way to prevent this, but maybe we can restructure after the crisis to prevent it from happening in the future. Hard currency is the only sure way to handcuff the state from such reckless behavior.
 
To me the solution is the low hanging fruit - defence spending. Obviously trimming there wouldn't solve the whole problem but it's a start.
 
Here is a thought - If the govt restructured the healthcare system so that it cost the same as the OECD average, and then restructured taxes to fit around that reduced healthcare p/p spend, the govt could be running fiscal surpluses without any tax payer paying more in tax & healthcare combined than they do today. And on average, other OECD nations healthcare systems supply a similar quality of healthcare to the existing US system.
 
Our runaway national debt is just caused by one thing, it's caused by many things. But the root cause is deficit spending. It'll take BOTH spending reduction and additional taxing to solve this problem. On the spending side, notice how the DOGE team's efforts is met with severe political opposition. The realty is vast majority of the 1% is perfectly happy to maintain the status quo because this is the economic environment that got them rich in the first place. This is especially true with the political elite both (R) and (D). There's only a percentage of (R) that 100% support Trump's efforts. Maybe about 1/3. The rest are just along for the 'ride'. On the tax revenue side, nobody wants to pay any additional taxes. But in order to solve this we all have to share in the pain. Yes, the rich has all the money, but the poor also needs to be taxed so they can understand that goverment services are not free. Bottom line: Can we fix the deficit? Maybe, Trump's actually working on it. It's painful for everyone, but why shouldn't it be? We enjoyed spending like there's no tomorrow, this is pay-back time.
 
To me the solution is the low hanging fruit - defence spending. Obviously trimming there wouldn't solve the whole problem but it's a start.
Yes, there are plenty of policy solutions that would help. The problem is the political class has no will to implement them.
 
Here is a thought - If the govt restructured the healthcare system so that it cost the same as the OECD average, and then restructured taxes to fit around that reduced healthcare p/p spend, the govt could be running fiscal surpluses without any tax payer paying more in tax & healthcare combined than they do today. And on average, other OECD nations healthcare systems supply a similar quality of healthcare to the existing US system.
Okay, that could work. But how do you get enough politicians to go against the wealthy interests of the insurance companies, pharmaceutical industry and health care providers?
 
Our runaway national debt is just caused by one thing, it's caused by many things. But the root cause is deficit spending. It'll take BOTH spending reduction and additional taxing to solve this problem. On the spending side, notice how the DOGE team's efforts is met with severe political opposition. The realty is vast majority of the 1% is perfectly happy to maintain the status quo because this is the economic environment that got them rich in the first place. This is especially true with the political elite both (R) and (D). There's only a percentage of (R) that 100% support Trump's efforts. Maybe about 1/3. The rest are just along for the 'ride'. On the tax revenue side, nobody wants to pay any additional taxes. But in order to solve this we all have to share in the pain. Yes, the rich has all the money, but the poor also needs to be taxed so they can understand that goverment services are not free. Bottom line: Can we fix the deficit? Maybe, Trump's actually working on it. It's painful for everyone, but why shouldn't it be? We enjoyed spending like there's no tomorrow, this is pay-back time.
Trump can only do so much if Congress refuses to cut spending. Looking at the last spending bill and the pushback Massie got, don’t really think there’s actually any solution there?
 
But how do you get enough politicians to go against the wealthy interests of the insurance companies, phar
It unfortunately will never happen in the US. Politicians on both sides are beholden to corporations.

Any attempt to enact meaningful healthcare reform would be countered with overwhelming spending by impacted corporations.
 
Okay, that could work. But how do you get enough politicians to go against the wealthy interests of the insurance companies, pharmaceutical industry and health care providers?
You can't, because the political system is so incredibly corrupt. In fact I don't think we will ever see the changes the country actually needs unless the political system, and judicial system, go through a massive shift to a much higher moral standard. And that unfortunately is incredibly unlikely to happen.
 
Our runaway national debt is just caused by one thing, it's caused by many things. But the root cause is deficit spending. It'll take BOTH spending reduction and additional taxing to solve this problem. On the spending side, notice how the DOGE team's efforts is met with severe political opposition. The realty is vast majority of the 1% is perfectly happy to maintain the status quo because this is the economic environment that got them rich in the first place. This is especially true with the political elite both (R) and (D). There's only a percentage of (R) that 100% support Trump's efforts. Maybe about 1/3. The rest are just along for the 'ride'. On the tax revenue side, nobody wants to pay any additional taxes. But in order to solve this we all have to share in the pain. Yes, the rich has all the money, but the poor also needs to be taxed so they can understand that goverment services are not free. Bottom line: Can we fix the deficit? Maybe, Trump's actually working on it. It's painful for everyone, but why shouldn't it be? We enjoyed spending like there's no tomorrow, this is pay-back time.
Oh, it is so frustrating to continually read posts claiming that Trump and DOGE team are tackling the deficit! They are not. DOGE has received "pushback" because it has so carelessly destroyed important programs for political, not monetary reasons -w/o significant savings! You gotta go where the money is and they are carefully avoiding that.

Healthcare and military spending are the big drivers and what does Trump propose? More military spending! A
"golden dome" in fact!

"Congressional Republicans have approved the most fiscally irresponsible budget resolution since the modern budget process began five decades ago. It allows Congress to slash taxes by $5.3 trillion and expand spending by $517 billion over the decade. This $5.8 trillion addition to the deficit (plus interest) would exceed the cost of the 2017 tax cuts, 2020 CARES Act, 2021 American Rescue Plan, and 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—combined." - Jessica Riedl (Atlantic)

Tales of impending debt crises have been scaring voters since the days of Ronald Reagan, without coming true. But surviving an unhealthy diet and lifestyle until now doesn’t mean you can disregard your health forever. Washington’s debt path is so unsustainable that it ultimately endangers the United States economy. And time is running out to change course without substantial disruption"
 
Oh, it is so frustrating to continually read posts claiming that Trump and DOGE team are tackling the deficit! They are not. DOGE has received "pushback" because it has so carelessly destroyed important programs for political, not monetary reasons -w/o significant savings! You gotta go where the money is and they are carefully avoiding that.

Healthcare and military spending are the big drivers and what does Trump propose? More military spending! A
"golden dome" in fact!

"Congressional Republicans have approved the most fiscally irresponsible budget resolution since the modern budget process began five decades ago. It allows Congress to slash taxes by $5.3 trillion and expand spending by $517 billion over the decade. This $5.8 trillion addition to the deficit (plus interest) would exceed the cost of the 2017 tax cuts, 2020 CARES Act, 2021 American Rescue Plan, and 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—combined." - Jessica Riedl (Atlantic)

Tales of impending debt crises have been scaring voters since the days of Ronald Reagan, without coming true. But surviving an unhealthy diet and lifestyle until now doesn’t mean you can disregard your health forever. Washington’s debt path is so unsustainable that it ultimately endangers the United States economy. And time is running out to change course without substantial disruption"
Right. Defense and Medical. LOL. Picking those two will guarantee nothing will ever get done. I add you to the huge list of Americans that clearly don't care about the deficit. You're not alone. As I pointed out, a lot of people are 100% happy with the status quo and saddling future generations with impossible levels of debt.
 
I don’t see any way to prevent this, but maybe we can restructure after the crisis to prevent it from happening in the future.

There is a way to stop it from happening again in the future and that way is to move to cryptocurrency so the filthy rotten government cannot print endless money. The other huge benefit with widespread crypto adoption is that tax evasion becomes incredibly easy for everyone.
 
There is a way to stop it from happening again in the future and that way is to move to cryptocurrency so the filthy rotten government cannot print endless money. The other huge benefit with widespread crypto adoption is that tax evasion becomes incredibly easy for everyone.
Possibly, I wouldn’t bank on the government never having ways to use it to its advantage.
 
Our runaway national debt is just caused by one thing, it's caused by many things. But the root cause is deficit spending. It'll take BOTH spending reduction and additional taxing to solve this problem. On the spending side, notice how the DOGE team's efforts is met with severe political opposition. The realty is vast majority of the 1% is perfectly happy to maintain the status quo because this is the economic environment that got them rich in the first place. This is especially true with the political elite both (R) and (D). There's only a percentage of (R) that 100% support Trump's efforts. Maybe about 1/3. The rest are just along for the 'ride'. On the tax revenue side, nobody wants to pay any additional taxes. But in order to solve this we all have to share in the pain. Yes, the rich has all the money, but the poor also needs to be taxed so they can understand that goverment services are not free. Bottom line: Can we fix the deficit? Maybe, Trump's actually working on it. It's painful for everyone, but why shouldn't it be? We enjoyed spending like there's no tomorrow, this is pay-back time.
...notice how the DOGE's teams efforts are met with severe political opposition to the chainsaw methods employed which have caused chaos but no discernible good results. FIFY.
 
Right. Defense and Medical. LOL. Picking those two will guarantee nothing will ever get done. I add you to the huge list of Americans that clearly don't care about the deficit. You're not alone. As I pointed out, a lot of people are 100% happy with the status quo and saddling future generations with impossible levels of debt.
Its not a matter of "picking"! Its where actual waste and fraud resides.
Instead, the administration's "savings" will make things worse rather than better. Handcuff the I.R.S.? Well that makes no sense. Stop research projects midstream? End Headstart and other important programs so he can pay for a "Golden Dome?". Create a U.S. brain drain?

French program for US scientists draws flood of applicants - DW


https://www.dw.com/en/french-program-for-us-scientists-draws-flood-of-applicants/a-72279414
Trump is doing all sorts of things that are a shock to the system, to elites, stake holders and voters. Its just a damn shame he is focused on making things worse rather than better.
 

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