Low Visibility by Al Sikes

Many of us have been caught in a snow blizzard at least once. Mostly, not intentionally. Visibility—well, it closes in on nil. Cold—my few experiences were in high winds, and on one occasion, I got frostbite. No sympathy, please—I was in a duck blind and refused to call it a day.

Today, our nation’s finances are careening toward nil. We can’t see or understand a $38 trillion debt. We, the United States of America, owe other people that amount of money, and our debt obligations have been going up and up for several decades. Think Treasury Bills, Bonds, Notes, and more. The last time America balanced its books was in fiscal year 2001.

If we paid off our national debt over a generation, let’s say 25 years, and the interest rate on the debt was 5%, we would need to pay $2.7 trillion dollars a year in principal and interest. I should add, a credible debt retirement program would reduce the carrying cost. Indeed, a credible program would facilitate debt as a normal element of a dynamic economy.

But back to the payment plan: $2.7 trillion a year! Our defense budget in 2024 was $865 billion, 32% of the annual budget. We, of course, will not quit spending on defense. The annual cost of Medicare in 2023 was $1.03 trillion.

Enough, you get why I suggested our nation’s finances are a low visibility event. We can’t fathom that amount of money. We can’t fathom where we are going to get almost triple the amount paid out for Medicare to make the necessary annual payment to retire our debt eventually.

One might look at the policy platforms of each political party to see how they would retire our national debt, but guess what, they don’t say. Surprise! Cynicism follows.

The dominant political parties should not be allowed to get away with a national bankruptcy trajectory. If you are a Democrat, don’t try to tell me there is some Valhalla that awaits our nation if we just add costly new programs. And if you are a Republican, don’t tell me we will resolve our fiscal mess without any additional tax revenue. We will not grow ourselves out of our shame.

Maybe we need to come inside. Snow blizzards are not pleasant. And yet that is where we are in our national politics. Neither Party is serious. Both are too caught up in their childish games of blame. And neither are attracting blue-chip candidates for office. How do I know? Because in office, the vast majority do not treat money in and out with any seriousness. For at least a generation, promises of new spending pile up, and then each year, the political speeches call for more programs on top of programs that leave the body politic with an increasingly dark outlook.

President Trump is a fruit of cynicism—cause and effect. Trump recently floated the idea of $2,000 payments to low- and middle-income households, funded by revenue from his tariffs. Earlier he had suggested tariff income could be used to reduce the deficit. His polling numbers are down and now he is going to give away even more money than in the “big, beautiful bill” to get them up.

Thanksgiving thought. In an international ranking of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the United States is the top-ranked large country at $75,492. Yet our massive appetite has resulted in a $38 trillion dollar debt. Indisputably, we have much to be thankful for. Our unfunded appetite is not on that list.

I have no idea when this folly will stop, but it will. As the cost of borrowing goes up and up something will give and maybe somebody will step up. But if somebody steps up, will we be capable of recognizing him/her? Or will our inebriation continue?

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.