Wake Up! Our $37 Trillion Debt Is a Fiscal Cancer

As of this writing, the U.S. is $37 trillion in debt, and now we’re planning on increasing the budget deficit to $2.5 trillion. Say what you will about the political realities behind Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which he signed a few weeks back, but it’s not going to help with our big picture problems.

It’s packed with tax cuts—no tax on tips, none on overtime, deductions for American cars, plus border security and baby savings accounts.

Trump calls it historic, I call it hyperbole.

The real story is that our deficit’s a disaster, and we’re not adult enough to face it. Interest on that debt alone could hit $2 trillion annually, thanks to 5% rates.

This goes far beyond number games. What’s happening here is a moral failure that we’re passing on to our kids. Make no mistake, debt is a sin behavior and nation states are not magically exempt from this fact.

“Do not be one of those who give pledges, who become surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?” Proverbs 22:26-27

Congress Owns This Mess

Since 1971, when Nixon ditched the gold standard, US deficits have exploded. LBJ’s Great Society (Medicare, Medicaid, welfare) set the wheels in motion, promising abundance for all but delivering total dependency on Washington.

By 2024, the US hit a $1.8 trillion deficit, with no recession or stimulus to blame. Sen. Rand Paul’s right: there’s nothing conservative about borrowing $2 trillion a year.

Bush. Clinton. Bush II. Obama. Trump. Biden. Trump. We love blaming presidents, but Article I of the Constitution gave Congress the purse strings. If your organization or household goes into crippling debt, eyes would turn to the treasurer or bookkeeper. This is Congress’s job. The debt was flat until the 1970s, surged after the 2008 financial crisis, and skyrocketed post-COVID with PPP bailouts. Yes, it’s going to get worse. That’s not Trump’s fault, but that doesn’t mean anyone should buy into the joyous proclamations about the BBB being somehow a victory for the country.

America did have brief surpluses in the late 1990s during the time of Clinton and a Newt Gingrich-run GOP Congress. They showed what’s possible when a Democrat in the White House faces off with fiscal conservatives in the realm of financial reality. But when one party controls it all, spending goes wild.

We all thank Elon Musk and DOGE for their service these past few months, but billions in savings is a drop in the bucket. It’s painful to suggest the cuts are insignificant, but at this scale, they sort of are.

As usual, the Left blames tax cuts, claiming they starve the poor and will kill grandma. Wrong! Federal receipts as a share of GDP have held steady at 16-18% since the 1950s, despite JFK’s top tax bracket cuts from 90% to 70% and Reagan’s to 30%.

People adjust.

Nobody works for 10 cents on the dollar.

Tax revenue is near an all-time high in simple dollar terms. The problem isn’t revenue… It’s spending. Our “exorbitant privilege” as the world’s reserve currency lets us borrow endlessly—until it doesn’t. Trust is fraying on a global scale, and it’s a game that can’t go on forever.

The Age of Decadence

Historian Sir John Bagot Glubb’s seven stages of empire hit hard: we’re in the age of decadence. Glubb believed that the decline of empires was a natural process and that empires often suffered from internal decay, such as a loss of moral values, and external factors, such as overextension and military defeats. Here are a few signals of the period of decadence:

Frivolity

Sagging birth rates

Weakened religion

Political systems ruled by money

Sound familiar?

Next comes decline and collapse, marked by debt and factionalism. It’s hard to tell exactly where we are. Maybe between those phases or in the early stage of decline/collapse.

Congress acts like children testing how far they can push a rule before it breaks. But we’re not just victims here. Americans are fully complicit. We’ve traded multigenerational family support for government handouts, squandering our affluence. We also vote in this system of government, and Congress does in fact reflect the will of the people, believe it or not. There is no political support for austerity or cuts to major spending programs, and so Congress doesn’t do anything. If the American people signaled a strong, lasting desire for responsible spending, Congress would mirror it back with their actions.

There is no opinion poll in America showing this to be the reality.

We must model sacrifice, not decadence, and demand leaders stop kicking the can down the road, and we must do it now.

Parents, Lead the Way

Hate to break it to you, but we can’t fix Congress overnight. We can, however, raise kids who understand and are ready to face reality.

Talk to them about debt—not just theirs, but the nation’s.

Ask them: What happens when we borrow what we can’t repay? Teach them to value family over handouts, work over whining, austerity over indulgence.

How you teach your kids about weathering tough times is going to play a role in their life as a citizen. Do your part and talk to your kids about these things. They might be our only hope.