CBO

How debt is shaping up to be our undoing.

The month of May closed with amazing news on the economy. It looks unstoppable and signals the best recovery since World War II.

Since 2005, the Congressional Budget Office has published an annual report on the long-term sustainability of U.S. fiscal policies.

As Congress continues to dither and delay entitlement reform, the Trump administration has empowered state lawmakers to take charge and do what Washington either can’t or won’t do: reform government spending and health care.

Once again, the financial fears have been ratcheted up due to recent announcements by the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that by the middle of March 2018 the Federal government will have run out of room to continue borrowing due to the official debt ceiling.

Since February 2017, the federal deficit has grown by more than $500 billion, to over $20 trillion. The average debt owed per person is now estimated to be greater than $62,000.

In the coming weeks, Congress will again debate increasing the debt limit. 

Trillions of dollars are up for savings if Republicans enact their plan.

Some old-guard Republicans are floating the idea of a national tax on carbon-dioxide emissions.

For a half-century, conservatives have watched Congress incur deficits and accumulate debt, making ours one of the most indebted countries in the world.

June 10, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) saying a carbon tax would harm the economy and should not be enacted. The 237–163 vote in favor of the resolution included only six Democrats, who joined the entire Republican caucus.

The idea of a carbon dioxide tax fits in seamlessly with the romantic, often quixotic, worldview of the modern environmental movement. It’s a well-intentioned notion that’s untethered to reality, and which would produce few appreciable gains, while causing major damage.

At this annual time of good cheer it might seem Grinch-like to challenge the spirit of Santa Claus, but the reality is that there is no jolly, bearded, rotund man in a red suit who brings us goodies for free. And the Congressional Budget Office has recently reminded us of this in reference to Social Security.