The national debt has just surpassed $30 trillion. Neither party cares to do anything about it.
Republicans like to talk about the national debt and fiscal responsibility when it’s convenient to do so: when the opposing party is in the White House or controls Congress. However, under former President Donald Trump, who called himself the “King of Debt,” the national debt grew $7.8 trillion. But now that Joe Biden is president, Republicans decry the national debt, as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did on Thursday.
Tax cuts, a GOP staple, are good — but they are only one side of the fiscal responsibility equation, and the other side is cutting spending. Both are necessary to achieve fiscal stability.
Meanwhile, Democrats have recklessly spent trillions of dollars. They have proposed spending further trillions of dollars on programs such as the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act.
Neither party wants to admit the truth.
Namely, it’s high time we saw some entitlement reform. The relevant programs — Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — constitute the majority of federal spending. In 2021, almost 73% of the federal budget consisted of these programs. But what to do?
Well, both Social Security and Medicare eligibility ages should rise to 70. Additionally, Social Security should only be for the 99%, not those who are not in the 1%.
With Medicare, why should the elderly who can afford private insurance be subsidized with taxpayer funds? Medicare eligibility should only be for those age 70 and older who cannot afford private insurance.
Medicaid should be a block-grant program left to the states, similar to the one proposed in the 2017 Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Such a program would allow the states to distribute Medicaid in accordance with the needs of their residents, as opposed to Washington simply giving a set amount to the individual states. Furthermore, routine drug testing should be a requirement for Medicaid recipients.
The national debt is long overdue to be treated as a top priority.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
