{"id":49842,"date":"2026-08-21T13:50:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49842"},"modified":"2026-08-21T13:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T20:50:53","slug":"congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/","title":{"rendered":"Congrats, America, the US Debt Hit $40,000,000,000,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Economy_dollar_close_up_3x2-jpg.avif\" alt=\"Economy, dollar, close up\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A close-up of a US dollar. Photo credit:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/dollar-banknote-on-white-table-4386155\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Karolina Grabowska \/ Pexels (Free use)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/category\/economy\/\">Economy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/author\/klaus-marre\/\">Klaus Marre<\/a>\u00a008\/20\/26 (WhoWhatWhy.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It\u2019s been a century since an administration decreased the national debt.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>Listen To This Story<audio preload=\"none\"><\/audio><a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/polly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/&amp;display=popup&amp;ref=plugin&amp;src=share_button\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/&amp;text=Congrats%2C%20America%2C%20the%20US%20Debt%20Hit%20%2440%2C000%2C000%2C000%2C000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/threads.net\/intent\/post?text=Congrats,%20America,%20the%20US%20Debt%20Hit%20$40,000,000,000,000%20https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/intent\/compose?text=Congrats,%20America,%20the%20US%20Debt%20Hit%20$40,000,000,000,000%20https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/opinion\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt had not yet reached $1 trillion. However, in his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/inaugural-address-1981\">inaugural address<\/a>, the new president recognized the looming danger that it posed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor decades we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children\u2019s future for the temporary convenience of the present,\u201d he said. \u201cTo continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reagan added that it is possible for individuals to live beyond their means by borrowing money, but that this only works for a limited amount of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhy, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we\u2019re not bound by that same limitation?\u201d Reagan said. \u201cWe must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding: We are going to begin to act, beginning today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And act he did. By the end of his two terms in office, the debt had nearly tripled to almost $3 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast forward to 2016, when the debt was $19 trillion. At that time, presidential candidate Donald Trump echoed Reagan and also warned that \u201cwe are mortgaging our future [and] we are mortgaging our children\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately for America, he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yVT_eI6xdF0\">went on to explain<\/a>&nbsp;that he \u201cwent to Wharton\u201d and understood the debt, and that the country would \u201cpay it back so easily\u201d once he created a dynamic economy (it\u2019s worth watching the clip just to hear Bill O\u2019Reilly sigh 6:57 into this interview).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that didn\u2019t happen. In just 10 years, the debt doubled again and reached $40 trillion on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it keeps piling up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, even though the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d cut $1 trillion from social programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by taking healthcare and food stamps away from millions of Americans, this one piece of legislation&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/61570\">will add $3.4 trillion to the debt<\/a>&nbsp;over the next decade \u2014 about five times as much as the nation had racked up through the first 200 years of its existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That number pales in comparison to the interest the country has to pay to the people and governments to which it owes money. This year, that figure will surpass $1 trillion for the first time. And, over the next decade, interest payments are expected to total $16.2 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, one has to take into account inflation, which is why it is worth comparing the debt to the nation\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Reagan took office, it amounted to a bit over 30 percent of GDP. Now, that figure has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/GFDEGDQ188S\">soared to 122 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, if we took the money generated by selling all of the goods and services produced in the US in the coming year (from lemonade stands to every single manufacturing plant) and used it to pay down the debt, the country would still be in the red by $8 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, of course, that is not the government\u2019s money to take; it just gets a part of that in the form of taxes. So let\u2019s think about the debt in that way: Last year, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fiscaldata.treasury.gov\/americas-finance-guide\/government-revenue\/\">government collected $5.23 trillion<\/a>&nbsp;in revenue, more than half of which comes from individual income taxes (while that seems like a lot, keep in mind that it also spent more than $7 trillion, which gets to the heart of the problem).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, let\u2019s say that the federal government starts spending&nbsp;<em>nothing<\/em>&nbsp;for a while (but still collects taxes). That means no military, no Medicare, no Social Security, no judges, no federal law enforcement, no Congress, no air traffic controllers, and not even a shiny new ballroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>When Reagan took office, it was $4,000 (or about $17,000 in today\u2019s dollars). Now, however, it has ballooned to $120,000 for every American, or $286,000 per taxpayer (i.e., not counting children, retirees, and billionaires like Trump who often avoid paying taxes altogether).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>At the current rate (and taking into account those interest payments), it would take nearly a decade to eliminate all of that debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these numbers are almost too large to fathom, so it helps to look at the problem on an individual level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The median income in the US is about $65,000. If somebody making that much money had as much credit card debt, percentage-wise, as the US, (which is a more apt comparison than a mortgage because a mortgage is backed by a property) that would come out to about $80,000. To get out of that debt, they would have to use every penny they earn for 15 months to pay off that credit card \u2014 without spending a dime on food, shelter, health insurance, taxes, gasoline, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or let\u2019s look at the share of the debt per person. When Reagan took office, it was $4,000 (or about $17,000 in today\u2019s dollars). Now, however, it has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.us-debt-clock.com\/debt-per-person\">ballooned to $120,000 for every American<\/a>, or $286,000 per taxpayer (i.e., not counting children, retirees, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax\">billionaires<\/a>&nbsp;like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-paid-no-income-tax-2020-reported-losses-office-records-show-2022-12-21\/\">Trump<\/a>&nbsp;who often avoid paying taxes altogether).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is your share of the bill that the nation\u2019s leaders have accrued over the past four decades or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is a bipartisan problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s been a century since an administration decreased the debt. In the eight years that Warren Harding (who died in office) and Calvin Coolidge were at the helm, it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.us-debt-clock.com\/presidents\/harding-coolidge\">decreased $7 billion<\/a>. Ironically, that is how much the debt increases&nbsp;<em>every single day<\/em>&nbsp;now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, it has just gone up, up, up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the first four years after Reagan made that nice speech, it was up 82 percent. Since then, the debt has increased less than 30 percent only three times \u2014 twice under Bill Clinton and then in Barack Obama\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We have no faith in these lawmakers, who refuse to make tough choices because they only worry about their next election and not the problems their inaction causes down the road \u2014 whether that\u2019s related to the debt, climate change, or artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean Democrats are more responsible stewards of taxpayer money. Instead, it\u2019s probably more of a reflection of how Republicans only care about fiscal responsibility when one of their own isn\u2019t in the White House but they control Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main difference is that they are bigger phonies when it comes to the debt because there is no tax cut for billionaires or military increase that they don\u2019t like (and, for what it\u2019s worth, as Reagan and other GOP presidents have proven, none of that money is \u201ctrickling down\u201d to regular Americans).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that brings us back to the Gipper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reagan wasn\u2019t wrong when he said that \u201cto continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, different economists have different opinions as to when the debt becomes unsustainable. We believe that it already is for the simple reason that there is no political will to do anything about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have no faith in these lawmakers, who refuse to make tough choices because they only worry about their next election and not the problems their inaction causes down the road \u2014 whether that\u2019s related to the debt, climate change, or artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, between one-fifth and a quarter of all government revenue will go toward paying interest on the debt. If that\u2019s not unsustainable, then what is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are those who say there is no magic bullet to fix this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there is a pot of money that grows even more quickly than the US debt: the wealth of American billionaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2020, the debt grew a little more than 30 percent under Joe Biden and it\u2019ll be the same again under Trump (or more in light of the sluggish economy, high inflation, and a proposed $1.5 trillion military budget).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the wealth of US billionaires&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/americansfortaxfairness.org\/billionaire-wealth-surges-past-9-trillion-for-first-time\/\">skyrocketed 32 percent<\/a><em>&nbsp;in just the first year&nbsp;<\/em>of Trump\u2019s second term and totaled $2.2 trillion \u2014 more than the annual budget deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s just individual billionaires, not the other ultra-rich (there are nearly a million individuals in the US whose net worth is at least $10 million, and 74,000 households are worth $100 million or more) and corporations that are raking in record profits \u2014 often while being subsidized in some way by taxpayer money \u2014 while regular Americans are struggling with a surging cost of living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That seems like a great place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we better get to it soon, because we are either on the precipice of the upheaval Reagan was predicting or (like Wile E. Coyote) we have already gone over that cliff without realizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One way or another, what comes next won\u2019t be pretty\u2026 and time is up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/author\/klaus-marre\/\">Klaus Marre<\/a>Klaus Marre, a former congressional reporter, is a senior editor for US politics at&nbsp;<em>WhoWhatWhy<\/em>. He writes regularly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/whowhatwhy.org\/author\/klaus-marre\/\">here<\/a>, and you can also follow him on&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/unravelingpolitics.bsky.social\/\">Bluesky<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@klausmarre\">Substack<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Economy Klaus Marre\u00a008\/20\/26 (WhoWhatWhy.org) It\u2019s been a century since an administration decreased the national debt. Listen To This Story When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt had not yet reached $1 trillion. However, in his&nbsp;inaugural address, the new president recognized the looming danger that it posed. \u201cFor&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/congrats-america-the-us-debt-hit-40000000000000\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1879],"tags":[26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49843,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49842\/revisions\/49843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}