The Economic Case for a Transformational Leader as FDA Chief
Most of America's fiscal dangers stem from escalating costs related to aging. There's actually a solution for that.
by Patrick Cox
January 25, 2017
In the last eight years, the US debt has basically doubled to almost $20 trillion. But many still portray the economy as fundamentally healthy. It’s like a family that claims high levels of spending are proof that everything’s great… even while maxing out the credit cards. At some point, it has to end. And high levels of debt will make recovery even more difficult.
The Trump Administration is reportedly planning to address budgetary problems with a 10% cut in discretionary federal spending. An article in The Hill described those deep cuts as “taking an ax to government spending.” Already, agencies that could be affected are mounting full-scale offensives.
Even if Trump gets his 10% in cuts, it won’t be enough to pay off the debt. The reason is that mandatory spending automatically increases more than he can cut the budget. Discretionary spending makes up barely one-third of the federal budget—10% of one-third is about 3% of the budget.
As Trump confronts thi…