Debt, Entitlement reality and politics collide to cause one epic headache in 2026
Ask anyone who follows politics and they’d probably much prefer talking about President Donald Trump’s latest controversy or America’s upcoming 250th birthday celebration to being compelled to address the nation’s ongoing debt – and scaredy cat politicians – problem, but the recent report from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) can’t/won’t be tucked again.
Simply synopsized, the GAO wrote that the political class has kicked the proverbial debt can down the road to the point the poor tin container is dented, smashed and practically unrecognizable in shape or form. How to deal with an issue that just won’t be delayed any longer?
Congress needs to find the gumption to act.
In an article titled, “Debt Will Balloon to 123 Percent of Entire U.S. Economy by 2036 Without Action from Congress: GAO”, Nicholas Ballasy reported for Just the News (as published by the Star News Network):
“To address the problems, the GAO urged Congress and the White House to develop a long-term fiscal strategy. The watchdog recommended establishing fiscal targets and budget rules designed to place debt on a more sustainable path.
“Among the options discussed in the report were increasing federal revenues, reducing spending, reforming major entitlement programs, reviewing tax expenditures and addressing financing shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare. The GAO estimated that maintaining debt at roughly 100% of GDP by 2056 would require either collecting 26% more revenue every year, cutting federal program spending by 21% annually, or adopting some combination of tax increases and spending reductions.
“The report also emphasized that delaying action would only make the problem more difficult to solve in the future. ‘The longer actions are delayed, the more dramatic they will need to be,’ GAO warned. The agency additionally renewed its call to replace the current debt-limit process, arguing that the existing system ‘does not serve as a control on fiscal policy.’”
What, you can’t give a no-limit credit card to a gaggle of self-interested butt-covering politicians who view sprinkling goodies onto the citizenry as their ticket to electoral immortality?
Keep in mind the GAO’s report was written before the Democratic Socialists completely dominated Tuesday’s Democrat primaries. Which party do you trust to work towards solving the debt problem?
The answer isn’t as clear as you might think, because the most credible response is, “Neither”. Politicians love power and the authority to decide which – and what quantity of – “stuff” gets purchased with the government’s buying authority. Democrats and Republicans argue over priorities and political values, but the historical record indicates both factions tend to run up the public tab whenever they’re the ones passing the bills and signing the completed legislation in the Oval Office.
Or, if you’re President Donald Trump, you hold an outdoor mass signing ceremony with dozens of beaming politicians who probably throw elbows and nasty looks at each other out of camera range just so they might inch closer to the president as he applies ink to the paper.
Democrats insist Republicans are the people boosting the borrowing due to the GOP’s tax rate cuts as well as vastly increased appropriations to cover military needs, including waging the War in Iran and other overseas “excursions” that have Pentagon officials begging lawmakers to give them more dough.
For their part, Republicans point out that Democrats are reckless in their fiscal habits because liberals pour money down the proverbial rabbit hole through social spending and welfare programs that never seem to help the intended recipient classes yet get renewed, over and over again, because Congress is unwilling – and unable – to do what it’d take to even come close to balancing the federal budget.
Further, because the contention is politically advantageous, Democrats assert that rich people aren’t “doing their fair share” to bring the budget balance into line. Yeah, like increasing the already lopsided tax allotment burden would lead to more revenue (it won’t) and can be morally rationalized by claiming, “they don’t need another billion dollars, do they?”
Today’s Democrats sound a lot like liberals in the 1980’s when they griped and moaned about President Ronald Reagan’s demands to beef up the military, suggesting that the “world could be blown up x times over already, why would we need another nuclear missile system?”
Democrats also can’t be trusted to ensure the taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and not wasted through duplicative programs – and outright fraud. It’s curious how Democrats get all bothered by commentators relaying the truth that the Somali immigrant population is deeply involved with fraud in Minnesota yet aren’t all that put off by the escalating amount of cash squandered for no benefit.
Does this mean if the perpetrators are immigrants with black skin that they have tacit immunity in Democrats’ estimation? How does that make sense?
Therefore, putting Democrats in control of the purse strings would lead to higher taxes, less revenue, lethargic economic growth and would only prolong the spending and debt issues.
Republicans aren’t innocent when it comes to ballooning the debt, but they’re better than the alternative. Use that argument the next time you find yourself in a verbal tussle with a liberal over the national debt.
Republicans win by default!
Besides, most Republican candidates morph into fiscal hawks when it comes time to campaign, and a percentage of them really intend to keep their promises when they arrive in Washington. It wasn’t all that long ago that it was popular to call for a Balanced Budget Amendment, and the notion could be revived again, as soon as citizens grasp just how bad the debt problem has become.
Democrats will never go for a BBA proposal, so the limiting measure’s chances of passage aren’t great, but the public must be brought to realize how serious the shortfall is as well as the consequences that will transpire if the debt isn’t handled in a mature, responsible way. It’ll take more than Bernie Sanders and AOC and “Chucky” Schumer and [insert Democrat’s name here] demagoguing the topic to win Americans over to their ideas.
Here’s thinking if (and I mean if) Republicans hold Congress after this year’s federal midterm elections that President Trump, if he chooses to do so, could make headway on convincing a voter majority to pressure politicians to get serious about bringing the fiscal numbers into balance. Recent revelations over the impending insolvency of the Social Security system have increased the urgency on Capitol Hill. Something must be done. Sooner rather than later, too.
A Republican victory this year, along with President Trump agreeing to touch the proverbial “third rail of politics” in his lame duck last couple years, could bring about the conversations the nation needs to have regarding the future. Trump insisted that the big entitlement programs were “off the table” in 2015 and 2016, and thus far has stuck to his campaign vow.
But without an election to win in 2028, Trump can throw his influence onto the “do something” side and still maintain his political standing and legacy with the MAGA base.
What could be the title for such a campaign? How about, “Failure is not an option”, because preserving the status quo will only make things worse. So would allowing Democrats to move into the leadership positions and propose, then pass, painful (to the economy) “fixes” that impose higher taxes and deprive responsible seniors of their lifelong contributions to the government “safety net” programs.
The big entitlements were supposed to be a “net” to ensure older folks wouldn’t need to resort to eating cat food to survive. They were never meant to be a safety “basket”, just an insurance policy.
At the same time, President Trump’s insistence that the insolvency dilemma will be wholly or partially alleviated through greatly heightened revenue from tariffs and big-time step ups in energy production – and the resulting royalties and taxes collected from them – does not appear to be enough to put the entitlements train back on the rails.
The same logic goes for the administration’s efforts to crack down on fraud. All good things, but the debt problem is larger than the sum of all of them together. Generations of hiding from the realities has only resulted in a huge, practically not-doable heap of debt.
The fiscal future doesn’t have to be “painful”, but voters need to be levelled with. Democrats want to tax their way into resolving any budget issue. But their medicine would be worse than the disease, and just might kill the patient along the way. Wake up, America. Slumber time is over.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .