📩 Hey, I Know You’re Worried About the National Debt—Let’s Talk

📨 From: Haley
📬 To: My Sister
🕓 Sent: March 19, 2025
📌 Subject: RE: The National Debt & Government Efficiency

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From her last email: “The economy, LOL, WTF, IDK!!  Complicated!  I can only see it like I do my household budget.   I think it needs to be a free economy with room for new ideas and competition.  We need to trim Washington DC fat (we all know they waste money).  AND we need to get out of debt (that really scares me, just like my own debt!).”

I think a lot of us feel this way—and here’s what I wrote back.

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Hey hey,

I was thinking about one of our last conversations, and I wanted to address some of your specific concerns as much as possible when I can, because I want to focus on the things that you’re worried about and how both sides are attempting to address that (and the consequences of each of those methods). 

💸 Topic 1: The National Debt

You mentioned being really worried about the national debt. I recently came across a few discussions that helped clarify some things for me and put them in a context that I found really helpful, and I wanted to share a few takeaways with you (cited by nonpartisan sources as much as possible).

A lot of the rhetoric around the national debt makes it sound like the U.S. is about to go bankrupt, like a person or a household overspending on their credit cards. But governments work differently because they control their own currency and can manage debt over time in ways individuals can’t. That doesn’t mean debt isn’t a problem—it absolutely is—but the causes and solutions aren’t as simple as just “cutting wasteful spending” and “trimming fat.”

There are two sides to a budget and our national debt equation: the money coming in (revenue) minus the money going out (spending).

One of the biggest drivers of the debt isn’t just government spending but also revenue —specifically, tax cuts. Republican leaders often attribute the national debt to excessive government spending rather than insufficient revenue. However, over the last few decades, tax cuts (especially the Bush and Trump-era cuts) have reduced the amount of money coming in, while government obligations like Social Security, Medicare, and infrastructure have remained or grown (mainly due to normal population growth and life expectancy increases). According to research, these tax cuts have added around $10 trillion to the debt, making up about 90% of the increase when you exclude emergency spending from things like COVID relief. (source)

It’s also interesting how “waste” is often blamed, but when people talk about eliminating $2 trillion in fraud and inefficiency, they rarely show proof of where that waste actually is (this is a huge issue with DOGE right now and why Elon is being called to answer for his reckless and often unconstitutional cuts, firings, and dissolutions of government agencies). In reality, a lot of what’s labeled as waste includes social programs that help millions of people or spending that aids our allies and ensures global democracy and peace (think Elon’s recent comments about the "parasite class," calling social security a Ponzi scheme, falsely claiming SO many things like spending on condoms for Gaza and luxury hotel stays for illegal immigrants, and on and on). I call out Elon specifically, because he’s supposed to be the head of DOGE, but Trump has made many similar well-documented and outrageous false claims about government spending. 

If we were really interested in addressing our country's debt, we’d need to look at both spending and revenue—yet discussions about increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans or corporations rarely make it into the conversation and the Trump administration is actively trying to pass a spending bill that would, over time, increase our national debt by $4+ trillion dollars while giving tax cuts again to the wealthiest Americans (he also added $7 trillion dollars to the national debt during his first presidency—the only presidents who have added more are George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln during wartimes). Republicans lowering tax rates since the 1980’s is now a documented pattern that predictably raises the national debt, and yet Republican politicians mostly balk at the idea of raising revenue through tax increases. What is Dave Ramsey’s main takeaway for getting out of debt and growing wealth?

“Your main wealth building tool is your income.”

— Dave Ramsey

Income for countries overwhelmingly means taxes, along with lowering your spending WHERE YOU CAN—not cutting necessities like healthcare or other life, auto, and home insurances that provide protection (think Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security).

✱ Here are some things to consider:

• You could fire every single federal employee and it wouldn’t make up for even 5% of the national budget. (source)

• There is currently a social security tax cap for those who make more than $176,000 annually (meaning the tax rate doesn’t get any higher after that whether you make $177k or $1 billion dollars). Just removing that cap would basically solve the social security funding crisis overnight. (source)

• Tariffs aren’t necessarily a terrible idea for bringing in revenue, but the way Trump is stopping, starting, and applying them doesn’t make any sense. Imposing tariffs requires giving time to build infrastructure and supply lines for businesses. Doing them overnight, off and on, and to our closest allies is obviously sending our economy into a tailspin amongst other negative consequences. 

⏱️ Topic 2: Government Efficiency

So, now we’ve talked about how the national debt works, how the country draws revenue (primarily and most dependably through taxation) and how it can approach increasing revenue. Now let’s talk about spending and specifically this big topic of spending efficiently.

A lot of the debate around government efficiency comes down to how we define waste, fraud, and abuse and whether it’s really the reason for our debt or economic issues. There’s a common idea that if we just “cut waste,” we’d fix everything—but what actually counts as waste? It’s easy to point to a big number like $2 trillion and say it’s all inefficiency, but when you break it down, most of that spending is on things like Social Security, Medicare, infrastructure, and defense. There’s always fraud and mismanagement in any large system, but the idea that eliminating waste alone could fix the deficit doesn’t hold up.

At the same time, we see huge investments in things like space travel, corporate subsidies, and defense spending while people argue over whether we can afford healthcare, education, or retirement programs. It makes me wonder—what’s actually considered a priority?

If efficiency is the goal, are we measuring it by how much we spend
or by what we get in return?

Efficiency means making things work better. But for who and to what end?? “Watching how DOGE, Elon Musk, and the Trump administration approach the topic of ‘waste, fraud, abuse,’ I have to wonder, to what/whose end are they working towards? Because the United States they are creating looks pretty bleak for the average American.” Being efficient alone isn’t the goal. “I would love a Department of Government Efficiency, but I also want a government that is led by people who have a humane vision of the future.” (quotes from Ezra Klein)

✱ Things to consider:

• Instead of cutting funding for programs like Medicare or Social Security, efficiency could come from reducing administrative costs, modernizing systems, and preventing fraud without reducing benefits. 

• Much of what some call “waste” is actually investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and social programs—things that provide long-term benefits. Conducting targeted audits to cut bureaucracy and redundant programs, rather than slashing vital services people rely on.

• You can be efficient at deporting people, driving away businesses and alliances and creating tax loopholes, or you can be efficient at improving access to affordable housing and healthcare and ensuring dignified retirement for all citizens.

Final Thoughts

The truth is, politicians like Bernie Sanders have been pushing for humane fiscal efficiency for decades—fighting to make sure that government spending actually benefits working-class people instead of lining the pockets of the ultra-wealthy. He’s long argued that the best way to balance the budget isn’t by slashing essential programs but by ensuring corporations and billionaires pay their fair share, closing tax loopholes, and investing in long-term economic stability. But instead of embracing these ideas, Democratic leadership has often sidelined progressive voices, dismissing them as too “radical” while focusing their political energy on cultural and social fights.

I’m not saying LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, or minority protections aren’t critical—they absolutely are. But the Democratic Party “establishment" has spent so much time branding themselves as the champions of social issues while failing to push hard for transformative economic policies. They’ve let corporate interests dictate policy, shied away from real tax reform, and failed to present a bold vision for working people. That has left them vulnerable to bad-faith attacks from the right, allowing Republican politicians to claim THEY are the party of the “working class” while passing tax cuts for billionaires and gutting social safety nets. Red states use the highest level of “social services” in the country, by far, and what Trump is doing is disproportionately hurting the very people who voted for him. This is a shame on the Republican Party but also on the Democratic Party for not standing up.

People are waking up to this. The fight to reclaim the Democratic Party as a truly progressive force is growing. More and more people recognize that real economic justice isn’t radical—it’s necessary. That’s why this week even I (and more than 20,000 others so far) signed a petition to replace Chuck Schumer as Democratic Senate leader. I believe we’re going to see a much bigger reckoning in the years ahead—whether that means reshaping what the Democratic Party stands for, or walking away from it entirely toward something more independent and people-powered. Either way, I’ll be part of that revolution.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this… I’m starting to think maybe I should create a blog lol #wordvomit Let me know what you think! Love ya!

For my readers, let me know what you think—in the comments, by email, or in your own conversations with the people you care about. Thanks for reading!