The United States’ government is in the early stages of the largest long-term government borrowing spree in modern history. And yet rather than responsibly rein in this debt surge, many lawmakers are trying to dig the hole even deeper.
Washington ran $6 trillion in deficits during the past two years of pandemic and recession, and is projected to run $12 trillion in baseline deficits over the next decade. Rather than pare back this borrowing, President Biden and Congressional Democrats are hoping to enact $6 trillion in additional debt. This latest round consists of the $1.9 trillion “stimulus” bill enacted in March, a $550 billion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate, the president’s discretionary spending surge that would increase the baseline by $1 trillion over the decade, and a reconciliation bill that can borrow up to $1.75 trillion (plus likely $1 trillion more to extend new policies with fake expiration dates, such as the expanded child tax credit). All told, the national debt held by the public would rise from just under $17 trillion before the pandemic, to $42 trillion a decade from now.
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Brian M. Riedl is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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