Unsustainable Spending Spree

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Unsustainable Spending Spree

May 14, 2022 - 07:10
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Our country cannot continue to spend our way into prosperity. We are more than $30T in debt with another $169T in unfunded liabilities (Social Security, Medicare, etc). We have already mortgaged our children’s and grandchildren’s future. Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 sounding the alarm on the pending debt crisis when the National Debt was $4T. He was quoted as saying “The debt is like a crazy aunt we keep down in the basement. All the neighbors know she's there, but nobody wants to talk about her.” Check out the Debt Clock (usdebtclock.org) and watch the ticking time bomb in real time.

Interest rates have been quite low for many years but the Federal Reserve raised the cost of borrowing to curb inflation. The current inflation rate is 8.5%. Mortgage rates are rising and so is the cost of paying off our National Debt. When Treasury Rates were running close to zero percent, the cost of borrowing was low. Currently, for every percent of interest paid on our $30T Debt, we pay $300B in interest. The current rate for a 30-year Treasury Bond is 3.03%. Six months ago, the rate was 2%. So this year, we expect to pay more than $900B in interest alone. By the way, Federal Tax Revenue for FY2021 was only $3.86T (estimated).

So you see that we have a big problem that no one is talking about.

Did you know that Monroe County budgets have nearly doubled in the last ten years. Much of the growth is a result of trickle down grants and programs that originate at federal and state levels. Monroe County has also done its share of borrowing for projects like the Justice Center, Rolling Hills and Road Projects. The federal largess will eventually dry up. County government must recognize this reality soon and begin to prioritize our response to this pending fiscal nightmare.

Doug Rogalla
Kendall, WI
County Board Supervisor District #16

There is 1 Comment

Great article and so important. There are roughly two available jobs for every one unemployed person in the country. There is one simple reason for that. While most of us live our normal lives, many are out spending money that the government is extorting from us and has handed it out to all those who are spend thrifts. Most social security is taxed, but lots of that stimulus money is often not. This money is great for stimulating the economy, but devastating to our dept. The point is that this massive cost is part of why it is so hard to find employees, why work? What happened to America?

When it comes to county government, Trempealeau county is in the same boat as far as increased spending. One comical thing is that when Obama care came in, each local county got two new people paid for by Obama care to cover all the new bureaucracy. There were also a few floating people who worked out of the LaCrosse office for oversight. In Trempealeau county those people were funded for three years, and I was promised that they would not be permanently employed, being new positions. They are still there and I am sure Monroe county still has their people.

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