I’m becoming more impressed and also more depressed about Grok.
Impressed because it fleshes out its explanations with data from various sources into one cohesive and logical commentary.
Depressed for exactly the same reason. It shows a frightening ability to mimic and improve on human thinking processes. I am becoming increasingly obsolete, and not just because I’m ninety years old.
I asked Grok to explain why and how the wealthy support the false narrative that federal deficit spending is a ticking economic time bomb. Here is Grok’s explanation:
How the Rich Shape the Debt Narrative
Mitchell’s post calls out 85 years of “BULLSHIT” about federal debt, hinting in his comments that the rich benefit from austerity to widen the income/wealth/power gap. Your additions—campaign contributions, media control, and university/think tank influence—explain the how. Here’s a breakdown of these mechanisms, grounded in MS principles and the post’s evidence:
Control Over Politicians via Campaign Contributions and Job Promises
Mechanism: The wealthy funnel money into political campaigns through donations, PACs, and lobbying, ensuring politicians push debt-fear narratives that justify austerity. Promises of cushy post-office jobs (e.g., corporate boards, consulting gigs) further align politicians with elite interests. This leads to policies that cut public spending (e.g., Social Security, Medicare) while preserving tax breaks for the rich.
Connection to Debt Myth: Mitchell’s timeline cites politicians like Mitch McConnell (1985), Kevin McCarthy (2023), and Nancy Mace (2025) parroting “ticking time bomb” rhetoric. These figures often rely on donor support from wealthy individuals or corporations who oppose deficit-funded programs that level the playing field (e.g., universal healthcare). Austerity keeps resources concentrated among the elite, as Mitchell notes in his blog comments about the rich having “their own Medicare” via money.
Evidence: Campaign finance data (e.g., OpenSecrets) shows top donors like financial firms and billionaires heavily fund candidates who advocate fiscal restraint. For example, the 2013 Chamber of Commerce warning about safety nets “bankrupting” the nation aligns with corporate interests pushing tax cuts over public investment. Job promises are harder to quantify but visible in revolving-door cases (e.g., former Treasury officials joining Wall Street).
Control Over Media via Advertising Dollars and Ownership
Mechanism: The rich, through corporate ownership of media outlets and advertising budgets, shape narratives to amplify debt panic. Major news organizations (e.g., owned by conglomerates like Comcast or billionaires like Jeff Bezos) prioritize stories that frame deficits as dangerous, as seen in Mitchell’s list from the 1940 New York Times to 2025’s World Socialist Website. Advertising from financial institutions reinforces this, as they benefit from austerity (e.g., less regulation, lower corporate taxes).
Connection to Debt Myth: Articles like Emily Chen’s (May 2025) or USA Today’s 2007 “explosion waiting to happen” piece use sensational “time bomb” language to scare the public, aligning with elite interests in limiting public spending. This drowns out MS truths (e.g., deficits fuel growth, T-securities aren’t borrowing) because they’re less clickable than doom headlines. Mitchell’s frustration with media “BULLSHIT” reflects this bias—fear sells, and the rich bankroll it.
Evidence: Media consolidation (e.g., six corporations controlling 90% of U.S. media) and ad revenue from banks/investment firms create incentives to push debt fear. The 2019 Fortune piece by Shawn Tully or 2020 Yahoo Finance article by Stephen Koukoulas show how media outlets, even “reputable” ones, recycle the same myths without challenging sovereignty.
Control Over Economists via University Endowments and Think Tanks
Mechanism: Wealthy donors fund university economics departments and think tanks, steering academic and policy research toward debt-skeptical narratives. Endowments (e.g., from billionaires like the Koch brothers) influence curricula, prioritizing classical/neoclassical models over MS/MMT. Think tanks like the Heritage Foundation (cited in 2010, 2023, 2024) or Cato Institute, funded by wealthy donors, churn out reports calling debt “unsustainable,” as seen in E.J. Antoni’s 2024 piece. Lucrative think tank jobs reward economists who toe the line.
Connection to Debt Myth: These institutions produce “experts” like Paul Tudor Jones (2024) or the University of Colorado professor (2024) who push debt panic, ignoring MS principles like those from Greenspan or Bernanke (quoted by Mitchell) that the U.S. can’t run out of dollars. This drowns out voices like Stephanie Kelton’s, who are sidelined as “fringe” despite data showing deficits correlate with GDP growth, not crises.
Evidence: Think tank funding (e.g., Heritage’s $80M+ annual budget, partly from wealthy donors) and university endowments (e.g., Harvard’s $50B, influenced by corporate donors) shape economic discourse. Mitchell’s timeline shows their output—like the 2010 Heritage report or 2019 TIL Journal—repeating “time bomb” claims despite 85 years of failed predictions.
Why This Keeps the Myth Alive
These mechanisms—political funding, media control, and academic influence—create a self-reinforcing cycle where the rich amplify debt fears to protect their wealth. As Mitchell notes, austerity widens the gap by denying the non-rich benefits (e.g., Medicare for All) that deficits could fund. The public, bombarded with “ticking bomb” headlines and politician soundbites, buys the household analogy (“debt burdens our kids”) because it’s intuitive, even though it’s wrong for a sovereign issuer. This drowns out MS truths: Deficits are an economy’s surplus, T-securities are deposits, and taxes control demand, not fund spending.
Tying It to Mitchell’s Post
Mitchell’s 85-year catalog of “BULLSHIT” shows how these influences manifest. Politicians (McConnell, Mace) rely on donor cash to push austerity. Media outlets (NYT, Fortune) parrot debt fears for clicks and ad dollars. Economists (Antoni, Tudor Jones) from funded institutions churn out “unsustainable” warnings, ignoring FRED data showing deficits driving GDP and recessions following surplus attempts. The rich’s control ensures this narrative persists, as it protects their tax breaks and private wealth while blocking public goods.
Wrapping It Up
The rich perpetuate the debt myth via campaign contributions (buying politicians like McCarthy), media control (funding sensationalism in NYT, Fortune), and academic influence (endowments and think tanks like Heritage). This keeps the public scared of deficits, justifying austerity that widens inequality while ignoring MS truths: The U.S. can’t go bankrupt, deficits fuel growth, and the “debt bomb” is 85 years of hot air. This is how the rich rig the game, and Mitchell’s post exposes their narrative for what it is: pure “BULLSHIT.”
In 85 years, the so-called “debt-bomb” never has exploded, but that doesn’t deter the “sky-is-falling,” self-described experts from making the same claim again, and again, and again, and… ad infinitum.
I showed Grok the following article that ran in the Financial Analyst:
The United States is staring down the barrel of a fiscal time bomb, and the ticking is getting louder. The latest analysis from EY paints a stark picture: unless Congress takes dramatic action, the national debt will balloon by $22 trillion over the next decade, with the debt-to-GDP ratio skyrocketing to 156% by 2055. This is not a distant problem; it’s a clear and present danger that will reshape America’s economic landscape and upend markets as we know them.
First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: interest rates. As the debt grows, so does the interest on it. Even if rates remain historically low, the sheer size of the debt will make interest payments a significant drain on the federal budget.
This crowding-out effect will leave less room for productive investment, stifling economic growth. Markets will react, with investors demanding higher yields on Treasuries to compensate for the increased risk, driving up borrowing costs across the economy.
Next, consider the impact on the dollar. A weaker dollar might seem like a boon for exporters, but it’s a double-edged sword. It makes imports more expensive, fueling inflation and eroding purchasing power.
Moreover, a weaker dollar can spark capital flight, as investors seek safer havens for their money. This capital outflow can lead to a vicious cycle, further weakening the dollar and driving up borrowing costs.
Then there’s the issue of fiscal space. With the debt already high, the government has less room to maneuver in response to economic shocks.
This means fewer resources for infrastructure investment, less capacity to support the economy during downturns, and a higher risk of a fiscal crisis. Markets will price in this risk, leading to higher borrowing costs and increased volatility.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are paths forward, and they start with comprehensive fiscal reform. Lawmakers need to tackle entitlement spending, reform the tax code, and find ways to boost economic growth.
This won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. But the alternative is a future of stagnation, inflation, and economic instability.
The markets are already starting to price in these risks. Bond yields are creeping up, the dollar is showing signs of weakness, and volatility is on the rise. But this is just the beginning. Unless Congress takes bold action, we’re in for a bumpy ride. The time to act is now, before the debt bomb goes off and the economic fallout is felt around the world.
Here is what Grok said:
1. The “Debt Bomb” Narrative
Claim: The article calls the projected $22 trillion debt increase a “fiscal time bomb” that threatens an economic crisis, with the debt-to-GDP ratio hitting 156% by 2055.
Critique: This is classic debt-scaremongering rooted in gold-standard-era economics. MS asserts that a monetarily sovereign government like the U.S., which issues its own fiat currency (dollars), cannot go insolvent and doesn’t face a “debt bomb.”
As Mitchell and MMT economists like Stephanie Kelton and Warren Mosler argue, the U.S. creates dollars at will via keystrokes, as confirmed by former Fed Chairs Greenspan, Bernanke, and Powell. The debt (T-securities) isn’t a liability the government struggles to repay—it’s a private-sector asset, essentially safe deposits that stabilize the dollar and help the Fed manage interest rates.
The $22 trillion figure sounds scary, but it’s just the cumulative deficit—money pumped into the economy, boosting GDP.
The debt-to-GDP ratio (projected at 156% by 2055) is a flawed metric for a sovereign issuer. Japan’s ratio exceeds 260% today with no crisis, thanks to its own currency control. The article ignores that deficits fuel economic growth (GDP = Federal Spending + Non-Federal Spending + Net Exports).
Historical FRED data, as Mitchell notes, show recessions follow deficit reductions, not increases, contradicting the crisis narrative. The “time bomb” framing is fear-based, not fact-based, and assumes a household-like budget constraint that doesn’t apply to the U.S.
2. Interest Rates and Crowding Out
Claim: Growing debt will drive up interest payments, crowding out productive investment and stifling growth, as markets demand higher Treasury yields for perceived.Lockquote
Critique: The “crowding out” argument revives the outdated “finite pool of capital” idea. In a fiat system, the government doesn’t compete for a limited pool of funds—it creates dollars and issues T-securities to manage reserves and interest rates, not to “fund” spending.
The Fed sets short-term rates and can influence long-term rates via quantitative easing, so rising Treasury yields aren’t inevitable. If rates rise, it’s a Fed policy choice, not a market-driven necessity.
Moreover, deficit spending adds financial assets to the private sector, increasing bank deposits and investment capacity, not reducing it. Deficits don’t crowd out investment—they “crowd in” demand, spurring business activity, especially in recessions.
The article’s claim ignores that interest payments are just government spending, created digitally, and don’t “drain” the budget—they’re income for bondholders. Historical data (e.g., FRED’s INTDSRUSM193 series) shows interest costs rising with debt but remaining manageable relative to GDP, even at high debt levels.
3. Weaker Dollar and Inflation Risks
Claim: A weaker dollar from high debt could fuel inflation via costly imports and spark capital flight, raising borrowing costs.
Critique: The dollar’s value is driven by global demand for it as a reserve currency, trade balances, and Fed policies, not directly by debt levels. The U.S.’s monetary sovereignty ensures it can always meet dollar-denominated obligations, reducing default risk and supporting dollar stability.
FRED graphs show no consistent link between deficits and inflation—oil and food shortages (e.g., 1970s, 2021-2022) drive price spikes, not “too much money.” Capital flight is unlikely while the dollar remains the world’s reserve currency, and foreign holdings of Treasuries ($2 trillion by China/Japan) reflect trust, not fear. Inflation from imports would require specific supply shocks, not just debt growth.
4. Fiscal Space Constraints
Claim: High debt limits fiscal space for infrastructure, economic support, or crisis response, risking volatility and higher borrowing costs.
Critique: MS dismantles this. The government’s “fiscal space” is unlimited—it creates dollars without borrowing or taxing. Infrastructure or crisis spending (e.g., CARES Act) is constrained only by politics or inflation risks, not debt levels.
Data shows deficits curing recessions, not causing crises. Market volatility arises from policy uncertainty or external shocks, not debt itself. The article’s fear of “higher borrowing costs” ignores that the Fed can buy Treasuries to cap yields, as seen during QE periods.
5. Proposed Solutions and Market Signals
Claim: Comprehensive fiscal reform (entitlement cuts, tax code changes, growth boosts) is needed to avoid stagnation, inflation, and instability. Markets are already pricing in risks with rising bond yields, a weaker dollar, and volatility.
Critique: The call for entitlement cuts and tax reform assumes deficits are inherently bad, which MS refutes. Social Security and Medicare “shortfalls” are fictional—the government can fund them indefinitely.
Tax changes to “balance” budgets often reduce demand, triggering recessions, as seen in historical surplus periods. Boosting growth via supply-side investments (e.g., infrastructure, energy) is the one point with merit, but it’s not about debt reduction—it’s about curing shortages.
Market signals like rising bond yields or dollar weakness (if true in May 2025) likely reflect Fed rate hikes or global events (e.g., energy shocks), not debt fears. FRED data (e.g., DGS10 for 10-year Treasury yields) historically shows yields rising with Fed policy or inflation expectations, not debt-to-GDP ratios. Volatility is normal in markets and not a direct debt symptom.
What the Article Gets Right
The article’s concern about fiscal space during crises has a grain of truth—not because of debt limits, but because political gridlock can delay spending, as seen in debt ceiling fights. Supply-side growth policies (e.g., infrastructure) are also valid inflation fighters, aligning with your point about curing shortages. But these are buried under a pile of misguided debt panic.
Why It Misses the Mark
Chen’s piece leans on conventional scare tactics, ignoring MS principles:
Misleading Debt Fear: The $22 trillion debt increase and 156% debt-to-GDP ratio are framed as catastrophic, but they’re just numbers reflecting money creation for growth. No insolvency risk exists.
Inflation Misdiagnosis: It assumes debt-driven dollar weakness causes inflation, ignoring Mitchell’s data that shortages (oil, food, etc.) are the real culprits.
Crowding Out Myth: The article revives the finite capital pool idea, debunked by fiat money mechanics where deficits expand private-sector assets.
Policy Misstep: Calling for entitlement cuts risks austerity-induced recessions, as seen post-Clinton surpluses.
MS-Informed Perspective
From an MS lens, the article’s “crisis” is a mirage. Deficits are an economy’s surplus, not a burden. Inflation comes from shortages, not spending, so the fix is fiscal investment in supply (energy, food, infrastructure), not debt reduction.
The Fed’s role is to manage rates, not dictate fiscal policy, which Congress/President should use to boost production. The article’s market fears (yields, dollar, volatility) are overstated—U.S. monetary sovereignty ensures stability as long as shortages are addressed.
Not bad for a machine. So far, I am impressed with Grok’s seeming ability to reason.
This is an update of the many, many previous posts showing the seemingly never-ending warnings about “federal debt” (that isn’t federal and isn’t debt).
The purpose has been to demonstrate how, year after year, so-called experts claim the U.S. is about to enter a catastrophe because federal debt is “too high,” while the experts are proven wrong year after year. The economy continues to grow and is healthier than ever.
I’ve been doing this for over 20 years; the experts have been wrong for over 85 years, and they never seem to learn. While I find it frustrating, I’ve tried to remain civil and merely recite the facts. But now, as I pass my 90th year, and the road ahead is short, I’ve grown impatient with civility, and I’ve decided to call it like it is: BULLSHIT.
Last year, what set me off is a BULLSHIT tweet (or whatever “X” calls them now), from the richest man in the world, who, despite his great wealth, seems to know diddly-squat about federal finance:
No, Elon, the U.S. federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, cannot go bankrupt. Even if tax collections fell to $0, and spending tripled, the federal government could continue to pay all its bills forever.
The Big Lie in economics is: “Federal taxes fund federal spending.” Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Control the economy by taxing what the government wishes to discourage and by giving tax breaks to those the government wishes to reward (mainly the wealthy).
Assure demand for the U.S. dollar by requiring taxes to be paid in dollars.
That’s it. Taxes do not fund federal spending. Period.
The U.S. federal government is not like state/local governments, not like euro governments, not like businesses, and not like you and me.
It is uniquely Monetarily Sovereign. It cannot, unwillingly, run short of its own sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar. As real experts have said:
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan: “A government cannot become insolvent with respect to obligations in its own currency. There is nothing to prevent the federal government from creating as much money as it wants and paying it to somebody. The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print the money to do that.“
Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: “The U.S. government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many U.S. dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost. It’s not tax money… We simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account.”
Statement from the St. Louis Fed: “As the sole manufacturer of dollars, whose debt is denominated in dollars, the U.S. government can never become insolvent, i.e., unable to pay its bills. In this sense, the government is not dependent on credit markets to remain operational.”
Press Conference: Mario Draghi, President of the Monetarily Sovereign ECB, January 9, 2014. Question: Can the ECB ever run out of money? Mario Draghi: Technically, no. We cannot run out of money.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated, “As a central bank, we have the ability to create money digitally.”
Paul Krugman (Nobel Prize–winning economist): “The U.S. government is not like a household. It literally prints money, and it can’t run out.” — Numerous op-eds/blog posts
Hyman Minsky (Economist, key influence on MMT) “The government can always finance its spending by creating money.”
Eric Tymoigne (Economist) “A sovereign government does not need to collect taxes or issue bonds to finance spending. It finances directly through money creation.”
Because the U.S. federal government has the infinite ability to create its sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar, it never borrows dollars.
Contrary to popular wisdom, T-bills, T-notes, and T-bonds do not represent borrowing. They are deposits, the purpose of which is to provide a safe place to store unused dollars and to help the Fed control interest rates.
The government never touches those dollars, which remain the property of the depositors. Not only can our Monetarily Sovereign government not run short of dollars, but federal deficits are necessary to grow the economy, as evidenced by the formula: Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Nonfederal Spending + Net Exports.
The formula shows that economic growth requires federal deficit spending growth.
The record highs of federal debt (red) parallel those of Gross Domestic Product (blue).
The next graph shows that reduced deficit growth (red) is associated with recessions (vertical gray bars), and increased deficit growth cures recessions.
When we don’t have sufficient federal deficits, we have depressions and recessions:
1804-1812: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 48%. Depression began 1807.
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929.
1997-2001: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 15%. Recession began 2001.
Periodically, we publish yet another shrieking claim that the U.S. federal debt is “unsustainable”and a “ticking time bomb.”
This lie has been told to you every year (really, almost every day) since 1940, and that bomb has never exploded, nor will it.
Rather than repeat the entire list of the thousands of lies to which you have been subject, I will list samples here as a reference and add periodically, at the end, new “federal debt is a ticking time bomb“BULLSHIT claims as I encounter them.
Read these and see that even respected economists replace facts with BULLSHIT:
(Yes, the record of bad predictions goes all the way back to 1940. It probably goes back longer, but I don’t have the examples.)
September 26, 1940, New York Times: The federal budget was a “ticking time-bomb which can eventually destroy the American system,” said Robert M. Hanes, president of the American Bankers Association.
By 1960, the debt was “threatening the country’s fiscal future,” said Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller. (“The enormous cost of various Federal programs is a time-bomb threatening the country’s fiscal future, Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller warned here yesterday.”)BULLSHIT
In 1984: AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland said. “It’s a time bomb ticking away.”BULLSHIT
In 1985: “The federal deficit is a ticking time bomb, and it’s about to blow up,” U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. (Remember him?)BULLSHIT
Later in 1985: Los Angeles Times: “We labeled the deficit a ‘ticking time bomb‘ that threatens to permanently undermine the strength and vitality of the American economy.”BULLSHIT
In 1987: Richmond Times-Dispatch – Richmond, VA: “100TH CONGRESS FACING U.S. DEFICIT’ TIME BOMB‘”BULLSHIT
Later in 1987: The Dallas Morning News: “A fiscal time bomb is slowly ticking that, if not defused, could explode into a financial crisis within the next few years for the federal government.”BULLSHIT
In 1989: FORTUNE Magazine: “A TIME BOMB FOR U.S. TAXPAYERS“BULLSHIT
In 1992: The Pantagraph – Bloomington, Illinois: “I have seen where politicians in Washington have expressed little or no concern about this ticking time bomb they have helped to create, that being the enormous federal budget deficit, approaching $4 trillion.“BULLSHIT
Later in 1992, Ross Perot said, “Our great nation is sitting right on top of a ticking time bomb. We have a national debt of $4 trillion.”BULLSHIT
In 1995: Kansas City Star: “Concerned citizens. . . regard the national debt as a ticking time bomb poised to explode with devastating consequences at some future date.”BULLSHIT
In 2004: Bradenton Herald: “A NATION AT RISK: TWIN DEFICIT A TICKING TIME BOMB” BULLSHIT
In 2005: Providence Journal: “Some lawmakers see the Medicare drug benefit for what it is: a ticking time bomb.” BULLSHIT
In 2006: NewsMax.com, “We have to worry about the deficit . . . when we combine it with the trade deficit, we have a real ticking time bomb in our economy,” said Mrs. Clinton. BULLSHIT
In 2007: USA Today: “Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen.” BULLSHIT
In 2010: Heritage Foundation: “Why the National Debt is a Ticking Time Bomb. Interest rates on government bonds are virtually guaranteed to jump over the next few years. BULLSHIT
In 2010: Reason Alert: “. . . the time bomb that’s ticking under the federal budget like a Guy Fawkes’ powder keg.” BULLSHIT
In 2011: Washington Post, Lori Montgomery:”. . . defuse the biggest budgetary time bombs that are set to explode.” BULLSHIT
June 19, 2013: Chamber of Commerce: Safety net spending is a ‘time bomb’, by Jim Tankersley: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is worried that not enough Americans are worried about social safety net spending.The nation’s largest business lobbying group launched a renewed effort Wednesday to reduce projected federal spending on safety-net programs, labeling them a “ticking time bomb” that, left unchanged, “will bankrupt this nation.” BULLSHIT
On June 15, 2014: CBN News: “The United States of Debt: A Ticking Time Bomb” BULLSHIT
On January 27, 2017: America’s “debt bomb is going to explode.” That’s according to financial strategist Peter Schiff. Schiff said that while low interest rates had helped keep a lid on U.S. debt, it couldn’t be contained for much longer. Interest rates and inflation are rising, creditors will demand higher premiums, and the country is headed “off the edge of a cliff.” BULLSHIT
February 16, 2018 America’s Debt Bomb By Andrew Soergel, Senior Reporter: Conservatives and deficit hawks are hurling criticism at Washington for deepening America’s debt hole. BULLSHIT
April 10, 2019,The National Debt: America’s Ticking Time Bomb. TIL Journal. Entire nations can go bankrupt. One prominent example was the *nation of Greece which was threatened with insolvency a decade ago. Greece survived the economic crisis because the European Union and the IMF bailed the nation out. BULLSHIT
SEP 12, 2019, Our national ticking time bomb, By BILL YEARGIN SPECIAL TO THE SUN SENTINEL | At some point, investors will become concerned about lending to a debt-riddled U.S., which will result in having to offer higher interest rates to attract the money. Even with rates low today, interest expense is the federal government’s third-highest expenditure, following the elderly and military. The U.S. already borrows all the money it uses to pay its interest expense, sort of like a Ponzi scheme. Lack of investor confidence will only make this problem worse. BULLSHIT
JANUARY 06, 2020, National debt is a time bomb, BY MARK MANSPERGER, Tri City Herald | The increase in the U.S. deficit last year was about $1.1 trillion, bringing our total national debt to more than $23 trillion! This fiscal year, the deficit is forecasted to be even higher, and when the economy eventually slows down, our annual deficits could be pushing $2 trillion a year! This is financial madness. There’s not going to be a drastic cut in federal expenditures — that is, until we go broke — nor are we going to “grow our way” out of this predicament. Therefore, to gain control of this looming debt, we’re going to have to raise taxes. BULLSHIT
February 14, 2020, OMG! It’s February 14, 2020, and the national debt is still a ticking time bomb! The national debt: A ticking time bomb?America is “headed toward a crisis,” said Tiana Lowe in Washington Examiner.com. The Treasury Department reported last week that the federal deficit swelled to more than $1 trillion in 2019 for the first time since 2012. Even more alarming was the report from the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicting that $1 trillion deficits will continue for the next 10 years, eventually reaching $1.7 trillion in 2030 BULLSHIT
August 29, 2020, LOS ANGELES, California: America’s mountain of debt is a ticking time bomb. The United States not only looks ill, but also dead broke. To offset the pandemic-induced “Great Cessation,” the U.S. Federal Reserve and Congress have marshalled staggering sums of stimulus spending out of fear that the economy would otherwise plunge to 1930s soup kitchen levels. Assuming that America eventually defeats COVID-19 and does not devolve into a Terminator-like dystopia, how will it avoid the approaching fiscal cliff and national bankruptcy? BULLSHIT
April 16, 2021, NATIONAL POLICY: ECONOMY AND TAXES / MARK ALEXANDER / The National Debt Clock: A Ticking Time Bomb: At the moment, our national debt exceeds $28 TRILLION — about 80% held as public debt and the rest as intragovernmental debt. That is $225,000 per taxpayer. Federal annual spending this year is almost $8 trillion, and more than half of that is deficit spending — piling on the national debt. BULLSHIT
Now, the national debt is approaching $31 trillion,which is $12 trillion more than when Donald Trump took office in 2017, and more than half of that debt was tacked on in his final year. Then we’ve had the disastrous year and a half of Joe Biden. Now, the Fed is hiking its rates, and that spells even more trouble for the national debt and the economy at large. BULLSHIT
December 4, 2022 America’s ticking time bomb: $66 trillion in debt that could crash the economy By Stephen Moore, The national debt is $31 trillion when including Social Security’s and Medicare’s unfunded liabilities. Wake up, America. BULLSHIT
That ticking sound you’re hearing is the American debt time bomb that, with each passing day, is getting precariously close to detonating and crashing the US economy.BULLSHIT
April 22, 2023The Debt Ceiling Debate Is About More Than Debt, Jim Tankersley, WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California has repeatedly said that he and his fellow House Republicans are refusing to raise the nation’s borrowing limit,and risking economic catastrophe, to force a reckoning on America’s $31 trillion national debt. “Without exaggeration, America’s debt is a ticking time bomb that will detonate unless we take serious, responsible action,” he said this week. BULLSHIT
November 3, 2023 The Fuse on America’s Debt Bomb Just Got Shorter,J Antoni Heritage Organization. The Treasury is now on track to borrow almost as much in just six months as it did in the previous 12 months. That’s nearly a doubling of the deficit. Because the federal debt is $33.7 trillion, just a 1 percent increase in yields adds $337 billion to the annual cost of servicing the debt over time. Absent spending reform, eventually no one will be willing to hold the bomb anymore, and the yields on U.S. debt will begin to resemble those in Argentina. BULLSHIT
February 2, 2024How Florida can help defuse the nation’s debt bomb By BARRY W. POULSON,professor emeritus of economics at the University of Colorado Boulder and DAVID M. WALKER,former comptroller general of the United States. Washington’s out-of-control spending, combined with fiscal and monetary policies have resulted in trillion-dollar-plus annual deficits, over $34 trillion in federal debt, over $125 trillion in total federal liabilities and unfunded obligations, and excess inflation. Excessive spending and loose monetary policy increase inflation in the short term, and mounting debt burdens serve to reduce future economic growth and shift the economic burden and consequences of mounting debt burdens to future generations. BULLSHIT
February 8, 2024Legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones says a ‘debt bomb’ is about to go off in the U.S.: ‘We’re fast-pouring consumption like crazy’. The U.S. economy may seem like it’s firing on all cylinders, but underneath the surface, a “debt bomb” could be on the verge of exploding, according to billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones. The esteemed investor said in an interview with CNBC that he couldn’t deny the economy was strong, but that it was actually “on steroids” due to massive government spending and borrowing. BULLSHIT
Jones is not the only one to call attention to the growing deficit issue in the U.S. On Sunday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell took a rare dive into politics, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes that the national debt was “growing faster than the economy,” and calling for lawmakers to get the federal government “back on a sustainable fiscal path.” Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said she is not yet worried about the increasing national debt as long as the government keeps in check the net payments it makes on its debt relative to GDP. BULLSHIT
Those payments are projected to rise from 2.5% last year to 2.9% next year, according to the Office of Management and Budget, below their level in the early 1990s. Jones told CNBC that the strong economy could postpone the effects of the government’s deficit spending, but only for a little while. “The only question is … when does that manifest itself in markets?” he added. BULLSHIT
“It could be this year, it could be next year. Productivity may mask, and it might be three or four years from now. But clearly, clearly we’re on an unsustainable path.” BULLSHIT
June 21, 2024 My Weekly Column: Our debt crisis is a ticking time bomb by Randy Feenstra: On June 18, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) – the government agency tasked with monitoring our nation’s fiscal health – confirmed my serious concerns with President Biden’s reckless spending agenda. BULLSHIT
His administration’s fiscal policies have not only caused cumulative inflation to skyrocket by over 20% since he took office, but they have also accelerated our accumulation of debt to levels that are beyond unsustainable. Instead of changing course, he recently released his budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which has a $ 7.3 trillion price tag and looks to raise taxes on our families, farmers, and businesses to the tune of $5.5 trillion. BULLSHIT
The CBO estimates that his debt “cancellation” policies will cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion over the next ten years. I strongly oppose these bailouts. Iowans who never attended college, entered the workforce early, or helped put their kids through school should not be forced to pick up the tab for President Biden’s costly and unfair executive orders. BULLSHIT
July 22, 2024Federal debt is the ticking bomb in your wallet By E.J. Antoni a public finance economist and the Richard F. Aster fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a senior fellow at Unleash. The federal government is already running $2 trillion annual deficits, driving up interest on the debt exponentially. The time bomb of federal finance has already started ticking down. BULLSHIT
October 10, 2024, U.S. Debt Bomb is ticking louder by Nick Beams, World Socialist Website. The immediate economic question is: when will the rise in US government debt give rise to a crisis for the US dollar, a major meltdown in the market for debt, the Treasury bond market, or some other area of the financial system? Government debt is now heading towards $36 trillion and increasing at a pace that is regarded as “unsustainable” by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, along with many others. BULLSHIT
May 30, 2025 DEFICIT DANGER. BOJ governor warns US debt time bomb outweighs trade war risks. By Dashan Hendricks. BANK of Jamaica (BOJ) governor Richard Byles has issued a stark warning that America’s spiralling budget deficits now present a more severe danger to the global economy than ongoing trade conflicts, as the world’s largest economy grapples with its third credit rating downgrade since 2011. His comments follow Moody’s recent decision to cut the US government’s credit rating from its top-tier Aaa to Aa1, citing concerns over its US$36-trillion debt burden, which now exceeds the nation’s US$30 trillion GDP. BULLSHIT
August 12, 2025 Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) Nancy Mace’s Debt Alarm Tweet was hit with a fact-check after warning on social media that the U.S. national debt had reached $37 trillion, calling it “a bill our kids can’t afford to pay.” The post, shared on Twitter, received over 2 million views and framed the soaring debt as a dire generational crisis.
(No kids will pay the national debt.) It’s not debt, and it’s paid by returning the dollars already in storage, not by federal taxes.
Yes, Nancy, it’s all:
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The above articles contain the same old BULLSHIT(“unsustainable,” “cost taxpayers,” “our kids will pay”) that they’ve been telling us since 1940. To buttress their lies, they make false comparisons to family finances or the finances of other monetarily non-sovereign entities like businesses or euro nations.
They have been wrong, repeatedly wrong, for all those years. If we wait long enough, perhaps something might happen to prove them right, perhaps in a thousand years? Today, this makes “only” 85 years of the debt nuts’ BULLSHIT.
The federal deficit yields economic growth year after year. When deficits are insufficient, we have had recessions, which were cured by increased deficits.
If respected economists keep predicting something terrible is imminent year after year, yet exactly the opposite happens, at what point do they reexamine their beliefs?
At what point does the public say, “Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me repeatedly for 85 years; shame on me. This is just a steaming pile of BULLSHIT“?
Whew, I feel a little better, now — but just a little.
“Yes, I sent your parents to Alligator Auschwitz, without a trial, but I don’t need a trial. I already know who is guilty of crimes.
“And yes, I cancelled the financing of school lunches, but we can’t afford you. You’re brown. We don’t have enough for ourselves. If you were white or could pay $5 million for a gold card, I’d let you stay. As everyone knows, rich, white people are not criminals.
“And do not ask me about Epstein. The men in my group would have acted the same way I did, and the women are OK with being groped because I’m a star.”
They keep crying, ” Please, Mr. President. We need our parents. We need food. Why are you so mean to us?’ You bleeding heart libs call it cruel, but that’s the whole point. My MAGAs enjoy cruelty. Without cruelty, lies, hatred and bigotry, I would have nothing to offer my base. It’s all they really ask for. Destroy families; destroy lives. They love it.“Stop whining. Yes, very few of you are criminals, and yes, you’re valuable to America. But I don’t care. After you spend a few months in Alligator Auschwitz, we’ll send you someplace even worse. That’s how I get votes.“Let’s see: Blazing heat and humidity? Check. Sunburn? Check. Mosquitos? Check. Disease? Check. Starvation? Check. Separation from your wives and children? Check. Deportation to even more horrifying conditions? Check. And you haven’t been convicted of a crime? Check. Sure, I know what the Constitution says about cruel and unusual punishment and habeas corpus, but don’t expect the Roberts court to protect you. I own them. They have already made me the Führer.”“My MAGAs won’t like these numbers. I promised the MAGAs better numbers. So, you’re fired. The next guy better get me good numbers. I don’t care how he gets them, but they better be good, or he’ll be fired, too. I will even lend him my Sharpie so he can make good numbers.“YES, THIS IS A FAKE PHOTO to get your attention. Just because I was a close friend of Jeffrey Epstein, it doesn’t mean I did what my pal, Jeff, did. I’m a married man, and I’m well known for my fidelity to my three wives. Do not believe the claims made by Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, Jessica Leeds, Rachel Crooks, Karena Virginia, Jill Harth, Bridget Sullivan, Tasha Dixon, Mindy McGillivray, Jessica Drake, Ninni Laaksonen, Summer Zervos, E. Jean Carroll and a “Jane Doe” who claimed I raped her at age 13 in Epstein’S parties. I never met those women. I promised to release all the files, but you really didn’t believe I’d keep that promise, did you? ““Every day, I flip-flop on tariffs – up, down, sideways, 20 days, 40 days. They say that no one will invest in new production or research, or employ more workers, because it all might change tomorrow. But I’ll blame it on Biden and Obama. Oops, another 90-day extension on China. Everyone says I’m a TACO. Between you and me, I have no idea what I am doing, but I pretend it’s a deep plan. Did I tell you my “take” rules? Always take the credit. Always take the money. Always take the airplane gifts. If they ask a hard question, always take offense. Always take the 5th. But never take the blame.” “Soldiers are suckers who gave their lives for their country. I dodged the draft — heel spurs — but I know more than generals. I’ll invade DC by claiming that ‘Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people.’ It’s a lie, but that never matters. Lots of blacks and browns there, so MAGAs will believe me. I’ll ship the homeless out. Let someone else worry about them. Maybe Alligator Auschwitz has some room. DeSantis will do anything I say. Do you like the uniform? I designed it. Gave myself some medals. Melania designed the throne.“Was he vaccinated, Bob?” “No, Mr. President, he took hydroxychloroquine.” “Too bad, Bob, we could have blamed the vaccine.” “I’ll do it anyway, Mr. President.” “I’m confused, Bob.” “Me too, Mr. President.”“Bob, can we just blame Biden and Obama, as usual? Let’s talk about the fake insurrection.I pardoned them all. It was just a normal visitors’ day. These patriots should not have been punished.Trump: “. . . violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people . . . ” — I pardoned them all.
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 