Cassidy: The national debt is crushing the American Dream
There are competing priorities in the reconciliation bill before Congress. Some want to make the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Others want to reduce our $36 trillion national debt and prevent it from reaching $65 trillion by 2034. The goal should be economic growth — not just measured by the S&P 500, but by middle-class families’ ability to afford groceries, buy a home, purchase a car and live the American Dream.
To achieve that end, we must address spending and debt. Out-of-control expenditures and rising debt fuel inflation, pushing Treasury yields higher. This ripples through the economy, making loans tied to 10-year Treasuries more expensive. If debt climbs from $36 trillion to $65 trillion, as some proposals allow, it will pump more money into the economy, driving up inflation and the cost of financing that debt.
President Trump understands this. His efforts to cut spending, increase revenue in creative ways and balance the budget show his awareness of the problem. But extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act without adjustments would make a balanced budget impossible.
Most Americans wouldn’t notice the difference between using “current policy” versus “current law” to estimate a budget’s cost. But using “current policy” as the baseline instructs the Congressional Budget Office to ignore the $4.7 trillion price tag of extending the tax cuts unchanged. With the federal debt already projected to rise by $21 trillion in the next decade, this extra burden — plus new spending proposals — would push total debt to $65 trillion.
Interest payments now consume 18 percent of federal spending. The $882 billion spent on interest exceeds the defense budget. Historian Niall Ferguson has called this a hallmark of national decline. By 2054, debt service will claim one-third of revenue, surpassing Social Security. If we don’t change course, Medicare, Social Security and debt service will eventually consume all federal revenue.
For middle America, higher interest rates worsen inflation. As Treasury yields rise to attract buyers for more debt, car loans and mortgages become more expensive. During the Biden administration, inflation and high interest rates crushed working families. Most Americans don’t have lobbyists advocating for them. Instead, they elected Trump and a Republican Congress to bring relief. That means staying committed to fiscal conservatism. Congress must listen and act.
I voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. Lower- and middle-income Americans saw the biggest tax rate cuts. But pandemic spending and the Biden administration’s borrowing spree changed the debt landscape. In 2017, national debt was under $26 trillion. Now, it’s over $36 trillion — a nearly 40 percent increase over just eight years.
Trump thinks creatively about cutting spending and raising revenue. Congress should do the same.
The U.S. holds trillions in untapped natural resources, including oil and gas. Their development creates high-paying jobs and generates tax revenue. Lease sales and royalty payments would directly boost the Treasury. Increased energy production would also lower inflation by cutting costs for countless products derived from oil and gas. An abundance agenda is key to tackling our debt.
Republicans don’t want to take away benefits Americans rely on. We support lower taxes. We can extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in a way maintains benefits, keeps taxes lower and keeps the American Dream alive. Let’s seize that opportunity.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. has represented Louisiana in the Senate since 2015.
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