National debt hokum

Ever since Reagan, the GOP has cut taxes without commensurate cuts in spending, claiming that the tax cuts pay for themselves. They never do, and the annual deficits and the national debt go up. But debt doesn't matter in a Republican administration. Once a Democratic president is in office, though, Republicans suddenly become deficit scolds. Of course, their solution is never to raise taxes or cut defense spending. The national debt is the "crisis" that requires cuts in social spending, ideally in Social Security and Medicare.

The bloody shirt that is always waved when the GOP is out of power is that the national debt has grown so large that the US is headed to hyperinflation. Look, Japan has a far larger national debt/GDP ratio than the US and not only does Japan not have hyperinflation, their economy is growing very slowly relative to other Asian nations.

The debt ceiling is a phony crisis. No other industrialized nation has one. The ceiling gets raised without much debate in Republican administrations (with the votes of Democrats, BTW), but it becomes the target for hostage-taking in Democratic Administrations.

This is a very dangerous game. The debt is no threat to the US dollar or the US economy. Defaulting on the debt is a threat to both, as well as to all industrialized nations. The US dollar is the world's reserve currency. If Congressional Republicans renege on the debts *that have already been incurred by Congress,* the full faith and credit of the US treasury is in question.

China wants the Renminbi to be the new dollar, and Republicans are aiding and abetting Xi in that goal by threatening debt ceiling default.

Here's a good explainer for why the current debt is no cause for concern, why the GOP threats are, and what the Biden administration can do about it.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/politics/us-debt-negotiations-what-matters/index.html