Friday, May 5, 2023

The Debt Ceiling

 In 2017 the national debt was about 20 trillion. It is appoaching 25 trillion now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States



President Obama added about $8.6 trillion, about a 74% increase, to the national debt at the end of President Bush’s last budget in 2009.

At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase, largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession.

Trump's years before the pandemic:
In 2017, 2018, and 2019, the debt limit (total debt) was reset at $20.5 trillion, $22 trillion and $28.4 trillion, respectively. (Snopes)

You could easily manage the debt by raising taxes. Taxing individuals would be needed, as corporations do not pay a lot of tax, even if you raise it a few percent.