Column By Mike Bibb
Personally, I don’t believe anyone can comprehend what $40 trillion in debt really means. The figure sounds like something scientists use when describing the distance to a faraway star.
I thought the same thing when our nation’s debt zoomed past $10 trillion, then $20 trillion, then $30 trillion, and now $40 trillion.
Can $50 trillion be far behind? How about $70 trillion, or $90 trillion, or $1 quadzillion?
After a while, the numbers become meaningless. Who really cares until toilet paper hits $67 a roll at Walmart?
On top of that, the annual interest on this pile of money is another trillion dollars — about the fourth largest expenditure in the yearly budget.
Oddly, I reminisce about the good old days when we were only billions of dollars in arrears — there was still light at the end of the tunnel, and we were going to reach it.
Today, that guiding light hasn’t been seen in years. The tunnel is as dark as the inside of a coffin.
So, our leaders talk in soothing terms like “Budget,” an oxymoron Congress uses to put things into perspective most people can understand.
Although, obviously, it really doesn’t mean much, or we wouldn’t be $40 trillion in the hole.
It’s like a person buying the most expensive 2027 Cadillac when he can really only afford a 1988 “gently used” Honda Civic with 354,636 miles. It ain’t pretty, and needs a little fixing, but starts — most of the time.
Yet, our government boys and girls don’t see the wisdom in this recommendation, instead continuing to spend, borrow, and tax like the party is never going to end.
Only history shows it eventually ends, and when it does, it isn’t very pleasant.
I realize history is not an overly emphasized school subject, and teaching budgeting and financial topics is equally limited. Which might account for either a lack of understanding of these themes in Congress, or our elected representatives are near nincompoops — more concerned with their image in the next election campaign than passing a “balanced budget.”
Of course, there’s the usual Democrat vs. Republican tussles, each blaming the other for the mess we’re in. Entertaining, but not very productive, considering most of these folks attended similar colleges and universities, studied many of the same courses, graduated with comparable degrees and should know the difference between saving a dollar and spending three, or seven, or 25, or 40 trillion.
Then, why don’t they act like they have some smarts when they get to Washington?
I guess, for the simple reason that many of them relapse into their childhood, grabbing as many cookies out of the cookie jar as they can before getting caught.
And when caught, they invariably blame each other for doing it first. Totally forgetting it doesn’t make a friggin’ difference who did it first — it’s still the taxpayers’ money they’re throwing around, or fraudulently handing out. Not theirs.
But owing $40 trillion puts the issue in a completely different light.
How about this: “During Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, the IRS collected $5.3 trillion in gross taxes, processed 271.4 million tax returns and other forms, and issued $638.8 billion in tax refunds. In FY 2025, 50.4 million taxpayers were assisted by calling or visiting an IRS office.” — Tax Stats, IRS Data Book.
Now, consider this: An entire year’s worth of IRS-collected taxes amounted to $5.3 trillion. Meaning, if every dollar of that amount was applied toward the debt — and to no other government obligation, just paying on the bill already accumulated — we’d still be floundering in $35 trillion of borrowed money, plus interest.
I’m not dreaming up these numbers — do the math.
Sort of makes a person wonder what’s the use of going through all the
April 15th rigamarole of submitting forms, documents and paying income taxes if the more we pay, the more we owe and the further behind we get?
Other than fear from the IRS of chasing us down and confiscating our money and property if we don’t “voluntarily comply” with this madness.
How sharp does a person have to be to figure out the scam? Equally important, how long are we going to tolerate it?
The 16th Amendment (Income Tax) was never conceived or intended to be used as an excuse to allow the creation of a government revenue department to transform itself into an uncontrollable agency, rolling roughshod over the peoples’ Constitutional rights and protections in the name of collecting taxes.
Maybe it’s time we put down the shovel and stop digging our own grave. At this rate, we’ll never get to the bottom — and the tab isn’t getting any smaller.
At least, park the Caddy and drive the Civic clunker for a while. It might not be as comfortable, and rust is showing through the paint in several places, but it still gets us where we need to go.
Or we can keep rushing 97 MPH toward the precipice of national bankruptcy. When we eventually reach the point where we owe more than we can ever repay, then the party is just about over.
Sit down, kick off your shoes, relax in the recliner, and watch the sun slowly set in the west. No sense going to work in the morning because you’re losing more money than you’re making.
You may be earning $500 a day, but inflation, living expenses, taxes, and debt costs are draining your wallet faster than you can fill it; realizing the dingbats on Capitol Hill have finally spent every cent you’ve ever earned or will ever earn.
Needless to say, by this time the government will provide everything “free.” The only problem is there won’t be much of it, and what little there is you won’t be able to afford.
“Cheer up, life is great in socialist Nirvana,” our masters will proclaim from the security-guarded balconies of their executive mansions as the Debt Clock ticks past $127,835,644,072,553.49.
Seems like a lot — but not as much as it will be tomorrow, or the day after!
