Nuclear Debt Bomb: U.S. Debt Reaches Red Zone — 100% of GDP

For decades, there would be much talk among politicians about United States budget deficits (and the national debt). Yet this faded sometime after 2010, at the latest, after which our debt achieved elephant-in-the-room status. It’s perhaps just too scary or inconvenient — when you want or are promising free stuff — to discuss. Regardless, what just happened is discussion-worthy. To wit:

U.S. public debt has reached 100 percent of GDP for just the second time (first was during the Covid pandemic) since the WWII-era. We’re now in league with debtor nations such as Greece, Italy, France, and Canada.

Fox News reported on the story recently, writing:

The national debt held by the public reached $31.27 trillion as of March 31, while nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $31.22 trillion for the 12-month period ending in March.

That pushed the debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP above 100%, meaning that the public debt is now larger than the size of the U.S. economy. Public debt as a share of GDP is a measure preferred by economists in assessing a country’s government debt burden because it excludes debt held in government accounts.

With the latest data showing the public debt eclipsing the size of the U.S. economy, the federal government is quickly approaching the all-time record debt to GDP percentage of 106%, which was set in 1946 as the U.S. was in the process of demobilizing after the end of World War II.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a 10-year budget and economic outlook earlier this year that projected the U.S. will break the post-WWII record in 2030 with the debt held by the public estimated at 108% that year. A decade from now, debt held by the public as a share of GDP is projected to reach 120%.

Making the budget picture even worse, the CBO estimates that the debt held by the public is expected to grow faster than U.S. GDP as projected in the years ahead, which could have far-reaching implications for the nation’s fiscal and economic outlook.

Regarding these implications, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget explained April 30:

The higher we allow our debt to grow, the more we erode our own prosperity and that of future generations. Rising debt compromises affordability by slowing income growth, pushing up interest rates, and increasing inflationary pressures. Debt squeezes our budgets with massive interest costs. It exposes us needlessly to challenges from geopolitical rivals. And without corrective action, rising debt could spark a devastating fiscal crisis.

What’s more, the United States’ unfunded liabilities — projected obligations (e.g., Social Security) minus projected revenue — are now $88.4 trillion. (This is more than twice our $39 trillion national debt. Note, too, that some unfunded-liability estimates are higher still.) This is, of course, much as if I owe you $1 million but my projected future earnings are only $400,000. You’d be right to assume you’ll never see most or even all of that money.

“Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be” — Hamlet

Yet the picture darkens further when considering the usually unconsidered: state debt. As commentator Allan J. Feifer wrote Thursday, state-level

debt is the gasoline driving the growth of progressive states and enabling their anti-American behavior.

Progressive political thought, translated into action, can best be understood as the lack of restraint, most notably in Blue states that have two powerful levers at their disposal — taxation and the ability to create unlimited debt. It is through these two avenues that progressives “buy” the loyalty of all those useful idiots required to remain in power and dispense largess.

[Eleven] states run major deficit budgets, and the total debt is in the trillions nationwide:

• California: $520 Billion
• Colorado: $23 Billion
• Illinois: $172 Billion
• Maryland: $45 Billion
• Massachusetts: $95 Billion
• Michigan: $65 Billion
• Minnesota: $25 Billion
• New Jersey: $240 Billion
• New York: $410 Billion
• Oregon: $20 Billion
• Pennsylvania: $75 Billion

Democrats run all … of these Blue states, which also correlates closely with states experiencing rampant fraud, graft, and corruption.

Moreover, that picture is darker still when considering debt-to-state-GDP ratio. Seven Democrat-run states are in the high-risk category: a ratio above 20 percent.

Then there’s average debt per citizen (ADPC). “Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and New York,” relates Feifer, have an ADPC of $18,800. Connecticut is “at $26,400 and Kentucky at $13,300,” he adds, and then continues:

Meanwhile, the big Red states have very different numbers, lest you think I’m cherry-picking. For comparison, Florida’s average debt per citizen is $2,500-$3,000, depending on how you count; Texas is $4,500, and Ohio is $5,300.

Where Is the Cash Going?

Returning to the feds, one could wonder where all the money goes. Well, illustrative is a very amusing clip (below) of the late Ronald Reagan on the Johnny Carson Show in 1975 discussing government waste. Among the things Reagan mentioned? The feds spent “$249,000 to find out it’s better to be rich, young, and healthy than old, poor, and sick.”

The above is, however, small potatoes compared to today’s government profligacy and fraud. Most have heard about the billion-dollar scandal involving Somali daycare shenanigans. But that’s merely the iceberg’s tip. Just consider that as The Hill reported December 28, organized criminals

steal $115 million per hour from U.S. taxpayers right now, according to fraud detection models…. That’s $115 million every single hour — not annually, not monthly, but hourly. That comes to approximately $1 trillion a year bleeding out of federal programs.

Note that this is more than 14 percent of our $7.0-7.1 trillion 2025 budget. Now, question: How much of our national debt (again, $39 trillion) is attributable to fraud? Also 14 percent? More?

Paying for Moral Rot

Then there is what’s best described as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest spending. Here are some examples, from fiscal year 2024-25 (courtesy of Grok AI):

• $2.1 million — Health and Human Services (HHS) funded researchers to collect saliva samples and survey drug use among partiers at electronic-dance-music clubs and festivals in New York City.
• $1.5 million — HHS paid for celebrity influencer/TikTok-style campaigns to reduce drug use specifically in “Latinx” communities.
• $936,000 — HHS ran targeted marketing campaigns aimed at the “bear/cub,” drag queen, and queer punk-rock scenes in Los Angeles to promote testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
• $1.08 million — The Department of Veterans Affairs funded research teaching teenage ferrets to binge drink alcohol.

(Yeah, I could never get my pet ferret to keep me company on any of my benders.)

And here are several more, from President Joe Biden’s administration (2021-2025; again, via Grok):

• $2 million — The U.S. Agency for International Development awarded funds to a Guatemalan LGBTQ+ group for “gender-affirming care,” activism, and influence campaigns abroad.
• $3.9 million — Funding to promote democracy and LGBTQ+ rights/organizing in the Western Balkans.
• Nearly $75,000 — State Department grant to fund a two-day drag workshop and video production in Ecuador.
• $4 million — Grant to the New Alliance for Global Equality to advance global LGBTQI+ awareness and initiatives.

Really, though, is any of this surprising? A low-end estimate of the average personal debt in the U.S. is $55,000 — for every man, woman, and child. So while the government does steal from the people, it also may reflect them just as much.