As The Global Food Crisis Escalates, The Price Of Ground Beef In The US Is Up 16.2% Over The Past 12 Months
US national debt just topped $37 trillion and is growing fast.
Another Debt Milestone
The Peter G. Peterson foundation reports The United States is Adding to the National Debt Faster Than Ever
In the 2020s, the U.S. has added debt at a rate of $1 trillion every 5 months, more than twice the rate that has prevailed over the past 25 years. In part, recent debt accumulation reflects the significant deficit spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, in the face of a strong recovery and low unemployment, U.S. deficits remain substantially elevated and are projected to continue growing at a historic rate, while associated interest costs have overtaken all but Social Security as the nation's largest expenditure.
Looking at recent history, by decade, the U.S. added $1 trillion to the Debt:
Looking ahead, it is critically important for the nation's leaders to prioritize fiscally responsible policies that put the country on a more sustainable path.
The national debt is nearly as large as the entire U.S. economy and is projected to exceed its record high relative to the size of the economy in just 4 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Why is our debt rising so dramatically? There is a fundamental imbalance between spending and revenues that will continue to grow in future years. CBO anticipates that federal spending will rise from 23.3 percent of GDP in 2025 to 26.6 percent in 2055, according to the agency's March 2025 long-term projections. Revenues also are projected to increase during that period, but more slowly -- from 17.1 percent of GDP in 2025 to 19.3 percent in 2055 -- which means deficits will continue to rise in the decades ahead.
Trump seems to have some grasp of interest projections.
However, he has no economic grasp of where inflation might be if the Fed holds interest rates too low as it has done on numerous occasions.
Shelter costs are out of sight, and that's with poorly constructed measures of inflation.
Special Interest Vote Buying
Rather than make the tax code simpler, Trump added no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and dramatically sweetened the pot on state and local income tax deductions (SALT).
Those tax breaks, which totaled nearly $1.9 trillion in 2024.
Tariffs
Tariffs will raise money and Trump brags about that. But tariffs primarily hit small businesses (who will go out of business) and end consumers, especially lower income groups.
Trump now claims to want to give tax check rebates on tariffs which makes a mockery of claiming tariffs will balance the budget.
It's a massive wealth redistribution scheme from the poor to the wealthy.
Trump is seriously illiterate on tariffs. Downstream negative repercussions will be massive.
Spending Problem
It's often said, we have a spending problem not a revenue problem, but what did Trump do about it?
The answer is threaten any Republicans who would not go along with his One Big Beautiful Act that increased the deficits.
The MAGA cult cheered.
And Trump will increase military spending too. It's sickening.
Mish Proposals
My proposal would eliminate income taxes on the first 30-40K of income, kill earned Income nonsense, end child tax credits, and curtail food stamps and Medicaid.
In other words, I want to encourage people to work.
One of the big problems is the way Congress allocates money. It makes it hard to close unneeded military bases or end pet projects. A block grant to the Military (and to states for Medicaid) would correct the problem.
We tell the Pentagon, you get 20 percent less, but you decide how to spend it wisely. They would have an incentive to root out waste and marginal projects.
The same applies to states with Medicaid. The current incentive is to promote fraud, not stop it. That mentality must change.
The the extent Congress refuses to cut spending, we need to raise money. A VAT that excludes food and medicine but has high rates on boats, jewelry, etc. would be far better and more efficient than Trump's nonsensical reciprocal tariffs.
We need a simpler tax code, Trump expanded it. I propose a tax code so simple we could practically eliminate the IRS.
Corporate taxes are a mess. We encourage production overseas. I suggest we lower (or eliminate) corporate taxes on production in the US and set a higher rate on taxes overseas. Investment would flood back into the US.
Instead, pharmaceutical production moved to Ireland to take advantage of Ireland's (and the US) tax code.
Trump is now openly campaigning against Rep. Massie.
August 3, 2025: Trump Puts 93.5 Percent Tariff on Graphite Needed for EV Batteries
Here's another shoot yourself in the foot tariff move by Trump.
August 11, 2025: Trump Imposes Export Taxes on NVDIA and AMD, Unwise and Unconstitutional
Illegal and unwise monetization of trade policy is underway.
Regarding pharmaceuticals and Ireland, please consider Weight Loss Drugs Help Blow Out the US Trade Deficit