America’s federal deficit has soared to a record $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020, bringing the budget gap to a share of economic output that hasn’t been seen since World War II.
According to the Treasury Department, government spending was more than $6.5 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on September 30, up from $4.4 trillion in fiscal 2019. This was largely due to costly COVID-19 relief measures.
The public debt rose to $21 trillion, which the fiscally minded Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said surpasses an entire year’s worth of economic output. The national debt, which includes not just debt held by the public but intragovernmental holdings, rose to almost $27 trillion, an even more staggering figure.
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Congress, backed by establishment commentators and the mainstream media, argued that the colossal spending was needed to save the economy amid the pandemic (what they rarely fail to note is that the economic distress was caused by state and local governments overreacting and shutting down businesses in response to a virus that, for the young — generally most workers — is no more deadly than the seasonal flu).
The establishment “experts” now say more stimulus is needed, but the passage of another bill appears unlikely now as negotiations in Congress have stalled. Politico reports:
House Democrats are pushing for at least another $2.2 trillion in the next stimulus package, while the White House is standing firm at $1.8 trillion. Senate Republicans plan to vote next week on a narrow $500 billion bill, with almost zero appetite for a higher price tag in the weeks before the election. The measure is unlikely to garner Democratic support.
Meanwhile, several jobless aid programs are set to expire on Dec. 31, severing a critical lifeline for millions of Americans without any income. Tens of thousands of airline employees are out of work. Jobless claims and infection rates across the country are ticking up and any economic recovery to date has been dramatically uneven.
Like so many other outlets, Politico sweeps under the table the true culprit: tyrannical state governments. The solution is not more government intervention. Government intervention caused the problem in the first place.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, rightfully expresses optimism in the economy’s (read: the free market) ability to recover now that governments are beginning to peel back the draconian restrictions.
“Thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth policies and the bipartisan CARES Act, we are experiencing a strong economic recovery,” said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. “The Administration remains fully committed to supporting American workers, families, and businesses and to ensuring that our robust economic rebound continues.”
Budget Secretary Russ Vought said: “Thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth policies and the bipartisan CARES Act, we are experiencing a strong economic recovery. The Administration remains fully committed to supporting American workers, families, and businesses and to ensuring that our robust economic rebound continues.”
Vought added that “President Trump built the best, most resilient, economy in the world with historic tax cuts, deregulation, and fair trade deals. As the country continues to open up and this Administration pursues its pro-growth agenda, our economy will continue its robust recovery, sending Americans back to work and improving our fiscal picture.”
Recovery is unlikely to occur, however, if Joe Biden wins the presidency. Not only has the former vice president signaled that he will implement far-reaching government controls to attempt to curtail COVID-19 and future viruses. His entire agenda would involve massive tax hikes and regulations that would tank the American economy.
In fact, people from the states most likely to vote for Biden — New Yorkers, Californians, and New Jerseyans — could be taxed as much as 62 percent under the Democrat’s plan.
Add together an unprecedented expansion of the welfare state marked by all types of taxpayer-funded “giveaways” and you have a spending increase of $6 to $8 billion under a President Biden.
And it wouldn’t only be money Americans would lose. The election of Joe Biden would also cost us our freedom in various ways. Just see Biden’s gun control plan, which includes creating a gun confiscation task force, banning the importation and sale of semi-automatic weapons, and creating a registry of those currently owned by the populace, signing legislation to hold gun manufacturers responsible for crimes committed with the weapons they make, and forcing the nationwide implementation of “smart gun” technology.
Be it the deficit or our personal defense, it’s time for Americans to rise up and say no to out-of-control tyrannical government before it’s too late.
