In America, we never do anything small or half-a**ed. You ever see the Hoover Dam? The Grand Canyon? The Saturn V rocket that took Americans to the Moon in 1969 was 35 stories tall and generated nearly eight million pounds of thrust. Of course, all we got back from the 35-story building we sent to the Moon, the Apollo capsule, could fit into the average American's living room. But Americans have taken great pride in building the biggest, the baddest, the fastest, and the bestest things in human history.
Those are all wonderful examples of America's exceptional nature. Here's another one: Only twice in American history has the national debt equaled or surpassed the gross domestic product (GDP). Once, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and again after the government shut down the economy to save us from COVID-19.
Sometime in March (we can't be exactly sure when because, well, it's the government and record keeping leaves much to be desired), the federal debt owed by future generations hit $31.26 trillion. According to the New York Times, "the nation’s nominal gross domestic product, a measure of its output using current dollars, reached $31.21 trillion in the 12-month period ending in March."
There is no "national crisis" that would cause such a catastrophic turn of events. This is on you, America.
You've been electing spendthrifts and economic dunces from both parties for 75 years, who have played fast and loose with the public purse. Democrats have made it politically impossible to cut spending. Republicans have made it politically impossible to raise taxes. The result is stalemate, gridlock, and political terror at the thought that one dollar can be cut from a $7 trillion federal budget or added to the tax bill of even the richest Americans.
If it weren't so catastrophically stupid, it might be amusing.
The biggest sin of all is the gigantic game of "Pretend" that's been going on for half a century. We all pretend that trillions in debt don't matter, that, from presidents on down to pensioners, the notion of even making an effort to address this nightmarish fiscal mess is unsolvable.
And you better pray that when the reckoning happens — and it always happens — you're going to be a-moldering in your grave rather than facing the wrath of the next generation, which will be forced to deal with the fallout from a collapsed economy.
As of May 2026, annual interest payments on the U.S. national debt have surpassed $1 trillion, making it one of the fastest-growing and largest components of the federal budget. The U.S. government is spending over $2.8 billion daily on interest alone, with projections showing costs increasing to $2.1 trillion by 2036.
“When that happens, at some point, you’re in this debt spiral,” Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said. “The only way to stop it is through some kind of big shock to the system.”
So, we've got that to look forward to.
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What about those Republican firebreathers who harped on the federal budget deficit for the last 25 years (especially when Obama was president) and were constantly warning about the "fiscal cliff" created by the burgeoning national debt?
Oh! For the days of an $18 trillion national debt and a $439 billion budget deficit, as we had in 2015.
Representative Jodey Arrington, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Budget Committee, described the new level of the nation’s debt as a “flashing red light” for the economy, but he acknowledged that both parties were responsible for “sleepwalking off of a cliff.”
“I think, unfortunately, too many people are used to these flashing red indicators that we have significant structural problems with America’s balance sheet,” he said.
Nor did the Trump administration have anything to say directly about the level of debt surpassing economic growth. Kush Desai, a White House spokesman, claimed instead that the government’s fiscal standing had actually improved under Mr. Trump, as he pointed to work to “slash the pervasive waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending.”
I'd comment on what the White House spokesman said about the $2.1 trillion federal deficit for 2027 being an improvement over 2026, except my mother told me never to interrupt someone making an idiot of himself.
It's this kind of surreal denial of reality that will only go away when that "big shock to the system" happens, and suddenly, Congress will come to life. Not to address the crisis, but to find as many ways as possible to blame the other side for the ungodly mess both parties have made of the most dynamic, most successful economy in the history of human civilization.
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