Brett Rowland (Center Square)
The federal government has borrowed $1.9 trillion through the first 11 months of fiscal 2024, including $380 billion in August, a staggering amount that comes as federal watchdogs sound the alarm over spending.
These borrowing figures are up to date. Monthly Financial Report From the Ministry of Finance.
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Maya McGuineas, chair of the Committee on Budget Responsibility, said the government is borrowing about $6 billion per day this fiscal year.
“America faces severe fiscal challenges in the near future. In the next year alone, we will have to deal with the trillion-dollar extension of the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt ceiling, and address the expiration of discretionary spending limits,” she said. “Just three years from now, the national debt will be a higher share of the economy than at any time in history. And within a decade, Social Security will be insolvent, facing automatic, across-the-board cuts to beneficiaries with no recourse whatsoever.”
She said it’s time for former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to dig into the issue.
“Given the looming deadline, it’s more important than ever that presidential candidates take seriously the threat of ever-growing debt and deficits,” McGuineas said. “Yet the debate earlier this week, another opportunity for fiscal transparency, was a disappointment. Instead, we heard more about the candidates’ proposed new spending and tax cuts than how they would pay for them.”
She said candidates need to have a plan.
“To see a more responsible federal budget become a reality, both officeholders and candidates seeking the nation’s highest office need to focus on the details of deficit reduction — and soon,” she said.
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Congressional research agencies have issued similar warnings. Congressional watchdogs told President Joe Biden and Congress in February that the federal government is on a “long-term unsustainable fiscal path.” A U.S. Government Accountability Office report said federal spending levels are unsustainable over the long term.
“The federal government faces an unsustainable long-term fiscal path,” a U.S. Government Accountability Office report states. “Unless current revenue and spending policies are changed, we project that public debt will more than double as a share of the economy over the next 30 years and will grow faster than the economy over the long term.”
U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro said Congress must act.
“Congress and the Administration must act to move the nation off the long-term fiscal course it is currently on,” said GAO director Dodaro. “Federal debt levels are growing at a rate that threatens the vitality of our economy and the safety and well-being of the American people. Both spending and revenue issues need to be addressed as part of a comprehensive long-term plan.”
Distributed with permission From Centre Square.
