Somebody Set Us Up the $175 Trillion Debt Bomb

Buddy, can you spare one quadrillion, 750 billion dimes? Because that’s how many it’s going to take to plug the hole in America’s entitlements programs.

That’s 175 trillion-with-a-t dollars. That’s six-and-a-half times the entire economic output of the nation for a whole year. If we spent six years devoting all of our energies — no new cars, no new houses, no FARMING, no eating, no nothing — for six years, we’d still be a hole roughly 12 trillion dollars deep.

The gross product of every nation on Earth is only $109 trillion. Even if we imposed FICA taxes on China and India, we still couldn’t close the gap between what Washington promised to deliver on Social Security and Medicare and what it can actually deliver — with the big cuts coming the year before I hit retirement age in 2034.

The good news — if you’re callous enough to call it that — is that we don’t have to come up with the money all at once. According to a new Treasury Department report just detailed in the Daily Mail, the $175 trillion is spread out over 75 years, starting in 2033 when Social Security’s so-called trust fund is exhausted.

The payroll taxes that pay for Social Security and Medicare are expected to be about $2.4 trillion in 2033, which comes up more than [dr_evil_voice]TWO TRILLION DOLLARS[/dr_evil_voice] short.

The annual average for those 75 years is $2.33 trillion. So either we nearly double payroll taxes, or everybody born after 1967 and relying on Social Security/Medicare spends their retirement as a Walmart greeter — and Walmart doesn’t need 100 million greeters.

The money has been slowly running out for more than a decade when Social Security benefits began outstripping Social Security revenues. The money begins running out quickly in 2033 — just nine years from now — when the trust fund is depleted.

None of this is a shock to anyone paying attention. Washington has known it for decades. Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™ have known it for as long as you’ve been reading VodkaPundit. Demographics move slowly, true, but they also move inexorably. The best time to deal with slow-motion trainwreck was 30 years ago.

The next best time is right now.

Every time I write for PJ Media about our impending benefits crash — and I’ve been shouting at this particular wall since a high school poli sci essay in 1985 — there’s usually one person in the comments who virtually shouts at me, “I paid into the system, I’m just getting my due!”

Thanks for that, fella — your attitude is exactly why GenX, Millennials, and GenZ are getting the shaft. We’re paying in, too, but mine will be the first generation to get back less than we paid.

But no matter what generation you belong to, unless you voted for or at least sought out fiscal conservatives who were honest about the debt bomb, then you’re a part of the problem.

Granted, politicians with both integrity and foresight are few and far between. But ultimately, when it comes to benefits, Washington delivers what voters say they want. And what most people want is generous benefits and stingy taxes. And to their credit, I suppose, politicians delivered just that — and seem determined to keep doing so, right up until the money runs out.

P.S. Help PJ Media keep getting the truth out by becoming one of our VIP or VIP Gold supporters. You need independent news and analysis and we need to keep the lights on. You can join here and don’t forget our massive 50% off SAVEAMERICA promo code.

All articles possibly rephrased by InfoArmed.com

Leave a Comment Cancel reply