Could the American Debt time bomb crash the U.S. economy? Judge for yourself:
The King Kong of borrowing is Uncle Sam. The national debt is now $32 trillion when including the unfunded liabilities of social security and Medicare. That’s getting close to 150% of our national GDP of $22 trillion. Some $5 trillion has been added in just the past three years. Balancing the budget seems like a pipe dream these days.
Add to that state and local government debt and unfunded liabilities, which ALEC estimates at just under $6 trillion.
Consumer debt reached $16.5 trillion last month – up 16% over last year according to the New York Federal Reserve. Most of that debt is mortgages at $14 trillion, but, as we noted last week, increasingly Americans are taking on debt to pay for routine expenses to pay monthly bills like groceries and gas at the pump. Thanks, Joe Biden.
Add to that corporate debt and the grand total is $66,000,000,000,000 of red ink -triple our annual GDP.
Debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When we borrow for roads or factories or homes or to finance our military to win wars, or pro-growth tax cuts, borrowing can be necessary and appropriate.
But we aren’t doing that today. We are borrowing to pay people not to work. We are borrowing to finance windmills and Teslas and “reparation” payments to other nations, and pouring money into failing schools, and Obamacare subsidies that go to Americans making up to $500,000.
We are acting like a nation of wild-eyed teenage girls on a shopping spree at the mall – armed with daddy’s credit card. This story may not have a happy ending.
2) And These Are The Brainiacs Who Are Going To Audit Your Tax Return
If you haven't heard yet:
That’s a big WHOOPS!
So much for the day of jubilee that millions of college grads have been celebrating. They still may get thousands of tax dollars stuffed in their pockets courtesy of Uncle Sam (aka taxpayers) if Biden prevails in court – which seems doubtful.
We can’t help wondering how much this promise of tens of billions of dollars of debt relief has fueled the consumer spending boomlet this Christmas season.
The core incompetence of government is so rampant these days, we don’t even react with outrage or call for heads to fall. This goof is a little like telling someone “you won the lottery” and then the next day, issuing a correction and telling the cardholder: sorry we got the number wrong.
3) Time For “Woke” Coca-Cola To Apologize To Georgia Lawmakers
Last year, Georgia’s legislature passed a sensible bill to improve election integrity by correcting loose rules on ballot drop boxes and requiring identification markers be used to request a mail-in ballot. Early voting at government buildings now begins later, but the total hours of early voting has actually grown.
But to listen to Joe Biden and Stacy Abrams, it was the return of Jim Crow. “We are the worst state in the country to live,” Abrams proclaimed.
Some companies buckled. Delta Air Lines called it an attempt to “restrict voting rights,” even though its own attorneys helped craft the final bill. Major League Baseball moved its All-Star Game out of state.
James Quincey, CEO of Coca-Cola, proclaimed the bill was “designed to limit” the right to vote: “This legislation is unacceptable. It is a step backwards.”
Well, the votes are in – and there were a LOT of them. Far from turnout falling, Georgia set an all-time record on November 8 at nearly 80% of the 2020 presidential turnout. Compare that to New York’s 66% turnout, or California’s 53%. Early voting turnout has hit another all-time record ahead of Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff. The November 8 election ran so smoothly that it was certified early. Not even Stacy Abrams, who lost for governor by seven points this time, is screaming “voter suppression.”
The Honest Elections Project, a nationwide watchdog group, has taken out a full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to ask Coke’s brass to apologize. “Coke chose woke politics over the people of Georgia.”
Bravo to HEP for holding woke corporate executives accountable. We will let you know if/when that apology arrives.
4) New York Democrats Try To Steal State Legislative Seat
New York City Democrats are determined to block a new Asian Republican legislator from taking the seat he won in an upset last month. Asian groups are calling the move a modern-day “Chinese Exclusion Act.”
Democrats suffered big and surprising setbacks in the midterm elections. Lee Zeldin ran the closest race for governor in 20 years and Republicans captured four new House seats. Democratic support among Hispanic and Asian urban voters slipped badly.
Rather than question why Chang took out a 26-year incumbent in Brooklyn by five points, Democrats plan to nullify the will of voters by claiming that Chang doesn’t satisfy residency technicalities.
Even the liberal New York Daily News is incensed by this power grab and notes: “the first question is would they refuse to seat a Democratic member under identical circumstances? The honest answer is absolutely not.” The News points out the Brooklyn Democratic chair recently represented an Assembly district while her husband held office in a different district.
Wait. We thought Republicans were the “threats to democracy.”
5) China To FINALLY End Militant Zero-COVID Lockdowns
The latest evidence shows that Omicron is less deadly than the 2009 pandemic flu. China now admits it.
So why is it taking them so long to end lockdowns??? And for that matter, why have so many in the media and government in the west resisted a return to stone-cold pre-pandemic normal since Omicron became dominant in early 2022?
