The Senate Calls Out-of-Control Spending a National Security Threat, Keeps Spending Anyway.4/1/2024
By Ron Paul
Last month, the US Senate passed a resolution saying the over 34 trillion dollars (and growing) national debt threatens national security. A few days later, a bipartisan majority of the Senate voted for a 1.2 trillion dollars spending bill. In addition to the usual increases in war and welfare spending, the bill funds gender transitioning for minors without parental consent and red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to seize an individual’s firearms without due process. Before passage of the latest spending bill, the Congressional Budget Orifice (CBO) released a report predicting that the national debt would exceed the prior record of 106.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2028. Interest payments on the national debt are estimated to reach 870 billion dollars this year, more than the government will spend on the military. The CBO estimates that, unless Congress cuts spending (which is highly unlikely), by 2051 interest on the debt will exceed not just military spending but spending on the two biggest items in the federal budget — Social Security and Medicare. As Eric Boehm of Reason magazine points out, the CBO report understates how much federal spending will grow in the next several decades since it cannot predict what “crises” future congresses and presidents will exploit to ramp up federal spending. As Boehm suggests, someone projecting 30 years ago how much government would spend in the future would not have included the increase in spending due to 9/11, the subsequent creation of a homeland security-industrial complex, the “forever” wars in Afghanistan and Iraqi, the housing meltdown, or the covid lockdown. The hypothetical budget projection would also not have predicted legislation like the Medicare prescription drug benefit or Obamacare. The large and growing interest on the national debt puts pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. The Federal Reserve’s rate increases, though relatively small, are one reason national debt payments rose by 32 percent since last year. The need for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low will further erode the dollar’s purchasing power, subjecting more Americans to the insidious inflation tax. It will eventually cause a loss of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. This will result in a major economic meltdown that will likely lead to widespread civil unrest, the further growth of authoritarian movements on both the left and right, and new restrictions on liberty. The only way out of this is for Congress to begin winding down the welfare-warfare state. A good place to start is by cutting spending on militarism and forgoing interventionism. Savings from these cuts could be used to ensure those dependent on entitlement and welfare programs are not harmed as Congress winds down these programs. Responsibility for providing support for the truly needy should be returned to local and religious charitable institutions, while responsibility for education should be returned to local communities and parents. Congress should also pass legislation requiring any new spending to be offset by cuts in other federal spending and forbidding the Federal Reserve from purchasing federal debt instruments. These steps will be opposed by the special interests that benefit from the current system, but they are the only way to ensure the blessings of liberty and prosperity to our posterity.
Last week, we asked ‘What kind of country allows itself to be invaded?’ This week, we ask ‘What kind of country bankrupts itself?’ Why are we even forced to asked these questions? The role of government in the United States needs to be seriously reconsidered. Attempting to rule the world needs to be abandoned before it’s too late.
According to a new YouGov poll, the majority of Americans of military age would refuse to fight if a major global conflagration broke out including the United States. What does this say about our foreign policy and US future? Also today: Rep. Massie exposes cattle-tagging tyranny. Finally: Texas Governor declares war...on the First Amendment!
A new Gallup Poll released today shows a dramatic decline in US support for Israel's actions in Gaza, with the majority of Americans opposing Israel. Among Democrats, the opposition is even higher, promising more headaches for Biden. Also today: Media meltdown on Ronna's (now-cancelled) MSNBC contract. Finally: UK General admits obvious: 'we can't fight Russia."
A UK High Court delivered a mixed bag to Julian Assange and his family earlier today, holding off on ruling for the deportation subject to US "reassurances." But the court rejected key elements of Assange's appeal. We'll break it down today. Also in the program: FDA surrenders in its propaganda war against Ivermectin. Finally: Trump's surprising straight talk on Israel and Gaza.
By Ron Paul
This weekend’s late-night spending vote in Congress seems like another in an endless series of sequels to a bad suspense movie. Just at the brink of “disaster,” just before the stroke of midnight, Congress pulls off a miracle and passes an omnibus bill to save us from a “government shutdown!” The heroes have saved the day! Unfortunately, this latest sequel is as bad as the previous ones, as the American people are left with a massive $1.2 trillion dollar spending package to add to our already $34 trillion in debt. Military spending will, of course, be increased yet again, as the military-industrial complex demands more of our wealth to feed its ever-increasing appetite. And if this military spending increase is not enough, Congressional leadership is promising another huge supplemental bill to further fuel proxy wars in Ukraine and Gaza – with some money to provoke China as well. Republicans like to talk a good game about reining in spending – especially during election season – but as we learned with this “compromise” and all previous “compromises, it’s all talk. At the end of all the dramatic warnings about shutting the government down, we are left with a Washington-style compromise, meaning the leadership of both parties gets to throw anything and everything they want into the massive bill. Because it is only presented to the rank and file at the last moment before “disaster,” none of the Members get a chance to even read it, much less shape it through amendments and debate. The Republican House leadership promised the Members 72 hours to read any new bill before a vote, but they broke their promise without hesitation. Members would not have the chance to read the more than 1,000 page bill, which was worked out in secret behind closed doors. There is likely a reason that Congressional leaders did not want Members to get the chance to read the bill. As Rep. Thomas Massie discovered, buried in the bill is funding for 13 year old children to get help with gender transitioning without consent from their parents. He also pointed out that although nowhere was it in the authorization bill, just hours after the omnibus passes the Department of Justice announces the creation of a Federal “Red Flag” center to attack our Second Amendment rights. Who knows how many more items like these – and far worse – are deeply buried in the “must-pass” spending bill. Keeping these items from the American people by secretly embedding them in “must pass” legislation increasingly looks like a feature, not a bug. No wonder Congress enjoys such a low approval rate among the American people. In the end, the bill only passed the Republican-controlled House with the support of Democrats, fueling a growing rebellion against Speaker Johnson among House conservatives. The media-celebrated “bipartisanship” is not all it’s cracked up to be. It means that both parties embrace policies that are leading to our financial bankruptcy. This further threatens the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and will result in catastrophic changes worldwide that nearly no one in Congress seems capable of imagining. Republicans capitulating to Democrat demands to “save us” from a government shutdown may temporarily keep the appearance that “this is fine,” but in the end they are making the coming crash all the worse.
A last minute "stay" of ten days was granted to former President Donald Trump in his half-billion dollar "fraud" case, meaning he must come up with $175 million within ten days or the state would begin seizing his assets. Also today: Speaker Johnson invites Netanyahu to address Congress and...who attacked Moscow?
What kind of country allows itself to be invaded? A vast majority of what the federal government does, it should not be doing. It’s almost all unconstitutional. But they ignore the constitution and do it anyway. The federal government does have a job that it actually does have to do - protect the border - and it fails miserably at it. Our entire nation suffers as a result. Invaders are now squatters in our houses? That’s the severity of the failure that we’re now experiencing.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that a deal was being discussed between Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's legal team and the US Department of Justice that might result in a plea to lesser charges. Good idea? Also today: New York is nuts - squatters have more rights than homeowners! Finally: Say it ain't so, Trump - new speculation about his top cabinet picks should terrify us.
The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday held another hearing yesterday on the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Of all the finger-pointing and blame-sharing, one thing is never asked: why was the US in Afghanistan in the first place? Why is it so easy to get into wars but nearly impossible to get out? Also today...can Texas protect its borders...or not?
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