Here’s What Experts Expect — And Hope — To See From Trump’s Government Efficiency Agency
'You see what Musk did with Twitter, right?'
How your wallet is paying for the government’s spending binge
The Treasury Department has released the receipts for federal spending in fiscal year 2024, revealing staggering numbers. While the $1.8 trillion deficit may seem less alarming than a $2.3 trillion shortfall, the Treasury accounted for an extra $500 billion in deficits in the opening days of fiscal year 2025 to achieve that figure. Regardless, neither the Federal Reserve nor the Treasury Department can escape the impact of these numbers. We have now reached a point where permanent stagflation seems unavoidable.
The Treasury Department’s final tab for fiscal 2024 shows a $1.83 trillion deficit, setting a near record aside from the unusual pandemic years of 2020-2021. This means the government borrowed $5 billion per day — the equivalent of the FBI’s entire annual budget a generation ago. In the third quarter of this calendar year (the final quarter of fiscal 2024), the deficit equaled 6.3% of GDP, a level only surpassed during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans have failed to convey to the public that the government spending they rely on comes at a painful cost.
Despite relatively low unemployment and the absence of a world war, the government took in a record $4.918 trillion in revenue but still amassed a mammoth deficit. This gap is poised to grow in the new fiscal year, meaning that when a recession officially hits, the deficit could become colossal. Although the government collected $479 billion more in revenue than last year, it increased the deficit by spending an additional $617 billion. Imagine what the deficit might look like if revenue starts to decline.
In the past, we shrugged off such news, dismissing it as mere red ink on a spreadsheet. But that was when annual interest on the debt cost only $200 billion. Now, we’re on track to spend a record $1.133 trillion — or nearly a quarter of our tax revenue — just on interest. Debt interest is now more costly than every government expense except Social Security, contributing to the crippling inflation consumers face. We’re no longer mortgaging our grandchildren’s future; we’re destroying our own.
To cover this interest, the government must sell a record number of treasury bonds each month. With countries reducing their holdings of U.S. Treasuries and buying gold instead, treasury yields are rising unnaturally. Despite a drop in the federal funds rate, rising spending and the resulting debt service push yields higher. This shift has caused gold and treasury yields to surge simultaneously — a rare occurrence, as they typically move inversely. It’s also why the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed nearly a full percent since the Federal Reserve cut rates by 50 basis points. T. Rowe Price forecasts that the 10-year Treasury yield could hit 5% over the next six months, approaching levels seen in late 2007 on the eve of the Great Recession.
When yields go up, debt servicing costs increase further, and the Fed has to print even more money to cover both the rollover debt and rapidly accumulating new debt — rising faster this year than last. Under this baseline scenario, inflation is bound to worsen. The global money supply now stands at $89.7 trillion, up by $22 trillion since COVID. After shrinking in 2022-2023, M2 is now expanding rapidly and is currently 38% higher than pre-COVID levels. Consumers are already struggling with high prices, and every market indicator signals a new round of even higher costs.
Consumers have exhausted their resources ahead of an impending financial collapse, spending $2.3 trillion in excess savings over the past three years to cope with the cost of living. Currently, cumulative excess savings are negative $216 billion, with U.S. credit card debt and interest rates at record highs.
Even without the threat of hyperinflation, these economic indicators always precede a crash. The unprecedented rallies in gold and silver are clear warnings, signaling grave danger. They indicate that the Federal Reserve, in its attempts to curb recession and inflation while printing money recklessly, has lost control, leaving us to face the consequences of both.
Republicans have failed to convey to the public that the government spending they rely on comes at a painful cost. It’s not just the $103,700 in debt that each American is responsible for in some distant future. It’s the additional tens of thousands they will pay each year to maintain their parents’ standard of living for the rest of their lives — and that’s assuming things don’t get worse.Reports: Democrats’ Idea Of Progress Is Shoveling Billions Of Dollars To Illegals And Insurance Companies
The CBO reports show how the Inflation Reduction Act has proved anything but and how Biden and Harris' border crisis has increased spending.Biden’s $2 trillion deficit proves the ‘strong economy’ is a lie
Agenda-driven economists and Democratic Party mouthpieces keep repeating one claim: The economy is strong. But financial strength can often be deceiving.
We’ve all seen that family with the big, beautiful home, fancy cars, designer clothes, and a country club membership. At first glance, they seem to be doing well, right? But if they’ve bought all of that with large amounts of debt, they aren’t financially secure. They are simply creating an illusion of wealth, and eventually, that catches up with them.
You can’t say the economy is strong, when the fiscal foundation underneath it is full of cracks, smoke, and mirrors.
That’s exactly what the U.S. government has been doing — creating the illusion of economic growth by financing it with increasing amounts of debt. From the outside, it appears as if the economy is thriving, which is why certain economists and propagandists continue to push the narrative that it’s rock-solid. However, a quick glance at the numbers tells a different story.
The national debt, now nearly $35.5 trillion, is estimated to exceed 120% of GDP. Major financial entities suggest that for stability, it should be around half that amount.
Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, credit rating agencies, which are often slow to reveal the severity of fiscal crises, have downgraded the national debt rating multiple times.
We are now paying more than $1 trillion per year in interest expenses, meaning the cost of financing what we’ve already “bought” exceeds what we spend on national defense. This recalls Niall Ferguson’s maxim: “Any great power that spends more on debt service than on defense will not stay great for very long.”
Adding to this growing debt burden is a massive deficit. While we have historically run large deficits relative to GDP during times of war or emergency (or so-called emergencies like COVID), the Biden-Harris administration is running wartime-level deficits — around 7%-8% of GDP, which is double the historical average — during a period without a direct war and with a supposedly strong economy.
The more than $2 trillion deficit becomes even more alarming when you consider that the government took in over $5 trillion in revenue in the latest fiscal year. This is not only a record amount (compared to $3.46 trillion just five years ago), but it also exceeds the GDP of every country on Earth except the United States and China.
What the government is doing mirrors the extravagant family mentioned earlier — creating the illusion of a strong economy by taking on massive debt. The deficits are inflating the appearance of growth at an enormous cost.
The government has also received a boost from struggling consumers, who are taking on record levels of personal debt and dipping into their savings.
You can’t say the economy is strong, when the fiscal foundation underneath it is full of cracks, smoke, and mirrors.
The economists then want to change the subject, looking at increasing housing prices and stock portfolios.
This isn’t the strong argument that’s being presented. Asset inflation started before the rise in the cost of living. While this benefits those who hold assets, it does nothing for wage earners struggling to cover basic living expenses. All it has done is widen the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” and history shows that such a divide is unhealthy.
The economy isn’t working well for everyone. Where it does appear to be working, it’s happening at a massive and unsustainable cost.
What happens when the Joneses can no longer keep up with themselves? It could very well collapse the global economy. We need to confront reality instead of buying in to the illusion.
'The system is rigged': Congressional candidate Marty O'Donnell calls for cuts to 'bloated' federal government
Republican congressional candidate Marty O'Donnell says that 10%-15% of the federal government could easily be cut without any repercussions for the American public.
O'Donnell, who for the majority of his career composed music, is running for Congress in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. The musician spent years making jingles (Mr. Clean, Flintstones Chewable Vitamins) before composing the very celebrated soundtracks for massive video game franchises Halo and Destiny.
The Halo franchise alone has sold over 81 million copies, according to Deadline.
Running as a Republican, O'Donnell decided to forgo retirement after witnessing the turmoil the country has been in.
"I never really wanted to get into politics. ... I had never thought about it other than I used to tell my daughters that 'all of these bozos in Congress think that they have a career and think they should be there for the rest of their lives.'"
"I used to say that it should be Congress duty, and it felt like at this stage of my life I was being asked to put my money where my mouth is and see if I would agree to do Congress duty. So that's what I did," he told Blaze News exclusively.
O'Donnell's platform boasts that he is a "middle-class champion" who sports traditional values.
His campaign says that in order to ensure that children get the best start possible in life, people should "follow the science."
By that O'Donnell means supporting the idea of a "two-parent" household.
"Values ... underpins everything: integrity, faith, fidelity, valor ... these are not just American values, they shouldn't be called family values, these are human values," he explained. "If people lose these values, you start to see society erode, and I think we're seeing that."
'We should be able to cut the federal government by 10%-15% without damaging anything.'
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When asked about traditional family values, and with seemingly the opposite being taught in schools by way of gender ideology, O'Donnell said he doesn't want to see any legislation governing school curriculum put through the federal government.
"I'm a federalist. ... The federal government should stay out of it, 100%. I would be for getting rid of the Department of Education," O'Donnell said. He noted that such decisions should be made by parents and by local districts in the communities they serve. At the same time, O'Donnell does not support the idea of radical gender ideologies being taught to children.
He does, however, support the idea that the federal government as a whole needs to be reduced and, in its current form, is flawed.
"The system is rigged; it can't help but grow," O'Donnell remarked. "The federal government is way too big, it's way too intrusive, it's regulating far too many things, it's taxing way too high."
"All of this stuff needs to go in the other direction. It's not what the Founders intended."
The Nevada candidate said that governments are incentivized to blow through their entire budget and not save the people any money.
"It's insane. It's totally insane," he added.
O'Donnell also estimated that a large swath of the federal government could be eliminated without any penalty to the American taxpayer.
"We should be able to cut the federal government by 10%-15% without damaging anything."
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Regarding border security, O'Donnell said simply enforcing the existing laws would be a huge step in the right direction. Furthermore, reinstating policies put forth by President Trump, including "remain in Mexico," would provide relief from what President Biden has implemented.
The 69-year-old's official position is that the border is an "epic failure," with millions of people coming across the border without accounting for "who they are, what they intend to do, or what or who they bring with them."
Increased border security should also be applied, O'Donnell stated. This includes building the border wall where applicable, increased drone surveillance, and other high-tech policing of the border.
Clarifying the laws surrounding refugee claims is also paramount to the Nevada candidate, who said the whole process has been "bastardized."
This has involves organizations "teaching people from all over the world how to claim refugee status," he claimed.
O'Donnell is running against Democrat Susie Lee, who has been in office since 2018. Republicans held the seat from 2010 to 2016.
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Trillion-Dollar Deficits Explain Why Inflation Keeps Hitting American Families
A new report analyzing the next three decades forecasts a country paralyzed by the economic and fiscal costs of servicing its debt.
SCARY: Economics expert explains what will happen to Americans if our national debt continues to grow
Joe Biden says a lot of crazy things, but perhaps the craziest is his claim that he’s lowered the U.S. deficit, which Stu Burguiere says “couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an expert in budgeting, taxes, and economic policy, confirms that Biden is indeed lying.
“Last year, the deficit doubled from $1 trillion to $2 trillion – the largest share of the economy in American history, outside of wars and recession,” he tells Stu, adding that despite what Biden says, “the deficit is growing enormously.”
“The president has already added $5 trillion to 10-year deficits if you add up all the legislation he's signed. The fact that he claims he's reducing deficits is completely and mathematically absurd,” he continues.
“I assume what [Biden] is trying to do here is just compare it to peak COVID spending,” says Stu, “which of course is spending that he wholeheartedly approved and actually wanted more of.”
“The proper way to measure deficits is how they're doing compared to the baseline that was already expected by budget estimators,” Riedl says. “When the president took office, the Congressional Budget Office said the deficit will automatically fall to $ trillion and stay there for the next couple of years with the pandemic ending. Instead, [Biden] ran a $2 trillion deficit, so he's growing the deficit above the baseline, not reducing it.”
So just how bad is the situation?
According to Stu, “long-term, this gets incredibly ugly, really, really fast” and is “completely unsustainable.”
Riedl confirms this: “Yes, long-term, the numbers are totally unsustainable. If you assume current policies are extended, the budget deficit is going to go to 14% of GDP per year in a couple of decades. Historically, it's been 3% of GDP. The debt could grow to 200%-300% of the economy, depending on interest rates.”
Those are scary numbers. So what does that mean for the average American when the debt gets that big?
“It means that as much as half to two-thirds of your taxes will go into paying interest on the debt within the next couple of decades,” says Riedl, “and in fact, if interest rates keep rising, there's a scenario in which 100% of your taxes will just go into paying interest on the debt, as it becomes the biggest program in the entire budget.”
Further, granted “the path we're on, middle-class taxes will eventually double.”
“That's the danger of having debt go to 200%-300% of GDP. And that's the situation that the president is doing nothing about and in fact is pouring gasoline on the fire,” Riedl warns.
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Biden’s budget wages war on wealth
Like everything else emerging from this economically and morally bankrupt administration, Joe Biden’s campaign promises disguised as a budget are packed with lies and destruction. While presidential budgets typically don’t survive Congress, Biden’s $7.3 trillion spending proposal offers a glimpse into the tactics the Democrats will use to come after your wealth, and it should scare the heck out of you.
The White House says the budget is aimed in part at “lowering costs and giving families more breathing room,” which is weird and inconsiderate gaslighting of struggling middle- and working-class Americans. While the rate of increase in prices has come off its June 2022 peak of 9.1%, costs remain high, and families are still stressed.
Americans need to wake up or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.
Assuming Biden’s insane proposals did not undermine the economy and send interest rates skyrocketing, his budget would add trillions to the national debt, bringing it to $45.1 trillion in the next decade under the rosiest of scenarios.
Biden proposes the largest tax increase in history on the people who pay the lion’s share of federal taxes, all in the name of “fairness,” of course.
He also wants to hike the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, an effort that may sound appealing but would likely make America’s corporate landscape less competitive. And taxes are never paid by corporations themselves. Businesses pass the additional burden along to employees and consumers, who are suffering enough already.
These proposals, should they take hold, would not only have a material adverse effect on the economy but of course would be benchmarked for everyone so that government will be set up to steal more and more of your wealth to pay for its own power-grab.
Capital gains in the crosshairs
One of the most egregious proposed shifts is changing the capital gains rate to an ordinary income rate. Capital gains are what you pay on money you risk, which has already been taxed, should there be an increase. The proposal starts with people earning $1 million or more a year. Not only would that have a massive impact on capital allocation and liquidity, but once in place for higher-income earners, it could easily creep down to middle-class brackets. It’s happened before and could easily happen again.
Changing the capital gains tax rate could also impose a massive penalty on family businesses when they have a once-in-a-lifetime exit.
Biden also sows class division by conflating wealth and income. Another White House budget “fact sheet” repeats the lie that “billionaires make their money in ways that are often taxed at lower rates than ordinary wage income, or sometimes not taxed at all.” As a result, the administration claims, “many of these wealthy Americans are able pay an average income tax rate of just 8 percent on their full incomes — a lower rate than many firefighters or teachers.”
Now, if you are wondering how billionaires end up with an 8% income tax rate — because that sounds amazing — they do not. The claim originated with a White House “study” that purported to examine “income from unsold stock.” What on earth does that mean? Tax rates on qualified dividends are 0%, 15%, and 20%, depending on income. So what are they talking about?
Not surprisingly, it is unrealized stock appreciation at a given point in time. This is a made-up proxy for a wealth tax. This is not how income tax works, and it is a straight-up lie to say this is an actual income tax rate for billionaires and portray it as the average tax rate of the “wealthiest.”
Property rights in peril
But why expect any truth from this administration? Why expect any fiscal discipline? And why expect anything other than trying to grab more of our wealth to secure governmental power?
While many Americans may be inclined to support higher taxes on billionaires, don’t be fooled. It’s a trick to get you to surrender your property rights. The billionaires will find other loopholes. Middle- and working-class wealth will be vulnerable to government plunder. (To understand the threat in detail, read my recent book, “You Will Own Nothing.”)
The Biden administration is proposing trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of “helping the middle class.” You’ve seen what government help has done to your quality of life, and you can’t afford any more.
Speaking of affordability, the administration laughably claims its budget will make college more affordable through larger Pell Grants. More government spending doesn’t cut costs; it simply creates another mechanism for colleges to raise tuition, making college less affordable.
With the national debt projected to top $45.1 trillion, it’s clear that any promise to “cut the deficit” is more than a joke. It’s a recipe for financial ruin.
While presidential budgets are never realistic or final, it’s a good reminder that this administration only cares about preserving power and expanding government, rather than securing the American dream or restoring our financial foundation. Americans need to wake up, or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.
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