Big Beautiful Bill passes the Senate....goes back to the house.

Agree that deficit = spending − revenue, so that anybody who talks about any two of those without the third is leaving a third of reality out. And that debt = ∑deficit.

Still, we got our credit knocked in 2011 not because of the debt size per se, but because we were loudly threatening to quit paying existing obligations to show how serious we were about being responsible.

If the "debt ceiling" actually worked like a credit card limit (which says "declined" instead of letting you incur more obligation), that would have been a different story. The trouble is that the "debt ceiling" is in fact more directly analogous to a drunken spouse saying "I'm so mad Imma stop paying on these accounts!".

To reduce spending is one perfectly sensible component of deficit reduction. Nothing wrong with having that discussion about what future obligations to incur.

To threaten to quit paying on existing obligations is not. It comes too late to stop the obligations being incurred, it is deadbeat business that rightfully gets our credit downgraded, and that drives interest payments on debt higher and makes every bad situation materially worse.

 

Didn't the US just get another black mark and credit downgrade May 15,2025?

Moody's cuts America's pristine credit rating, citing rising debt | Reuters May 16,2025

"May 16 (Reuters) - Moody's downgraded the U.S. sovereign credit rating on Friday due to concerns about the nation's growing, $36 trillion debt pile"

US Completely Loses Perfect Credit Rating for First Time in Over a Century - Newsweek
May 16.2025
"Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating on Friday, citing repeated failures by successive administrations to control the country's growing debt. The agency lowered the rating from its highest grade, Aaa, to Aa1, noting that while the U.S. still benefits from key strengths—such as a dynamic economy and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar—its fiscal outlook has significantly deteriorated."

We can talk semantics all you want - if you lower the debt you will get your credit rating back and everything else will fall into place.

If a private citizen managed money like the US government does, they would be thrown in jail and forced to make a repayment plan to their creditors.

The National Debt is not political - it is a disgrace.

 

Number of times that the US Government has "shut down" since 1976:
21
Number of times that the US Government has "threatened a default" since 1976:
0

Number of times that the US has ACTUALLY defaulted on debt:

• 1814: During the War of 1812, the Treasury admitted to delayed payments on dividends and dishonored Treasury notes due to financial strain.
• 1933-34: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's refusal to repay Treasury bondholders in gold, despite contractual promises, is considered by some to be a default. The Supreme Court upheld the government's right to do so.
• 1968: The U.S. government defaulted on its promise to redeem silver certificates for silver dollars.
• 1971: The U.S. broke its commitment to redeem dollars held by foreign governments for gold under the Bretton Woods Agreement, a move that ended the system.
• 1979: Technical glitches caused delays in payments to some investors for Treasury checks and maturing securities, leading some to call it a "mini-default".

The idea that a delay in authorizing an increase to the debt ceiling may lead to us defaulting on all or even a significant number of our credit obligations does not stand up to a non-partisan examination of the data.....

 

Financial Professionals disagree rather strongly:
"Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating on Friday, citing repeated failures by successive administrations to control the country's growing debt. The agency lowered the rating from its highest grade, Aaa, to Aa1, noting that while the U.S. still benefits from key strengths—such as a dynamic economy and the global dominance of the U.S. dollar—its fiscal outlook has significantly deteriorated."

New Report: Rising National Debt Will Cause Significant Damage to the U.S. Economy


How rising US national debt impacts the average American - Newsweek

 

+++

Bob Wilson

 

This one says a bit about it Proposed Japanese invasion of Australia during World War II - Wikipedia but the Aboriginal troops and tribes in the area killed a lot of Japanese soldiers who had actually landed, and many more were found dead from dehydration .... it is very harsh country in the top end of Australia and people die up that way even now if they don't stay with their vehicle and keep in communication with those trying to rescue them ......

There are a lot of early days legends of aviators breaking down and friends heading out to look for them, and dying in the attempt .... along with ill informed early explorers .... Bouke and Wills Burke and Wills expedition - Wikipedia are good examples ..... it wasn't for lack of trying, it was lack of local information that stopped them ...... easy to say afterwards you never tried when you've failed ......

T1 Terry

 

Exactly!
The Pacific is a big lake.
FAR too many Americans lost their lives because of nothing more than the vastness of this part of the world.
Example....
After the British and Indian forces landed on Ramree Island, they drove Japanese soldiers into the island's mangrove swamps where the saltwater crocs killed so many of them that the exact death toll is disputed even TODAY.
Granted....that was Burma (now Myanmar) but think about it......are there things in the NT that might have posed something of a "local challenge" to the Japans....in 19-bleeding 42???
Besides Distance?

Imperial Japan did the math.
They were pretty good at that.
Yes.
They wanted to take Port Moresby and Darwin BUT they decided against the latter because it would have been a logistical freekin nightmare - AND......there are several critters in the NT that didn't get the word about their place in the food chain.
AND deserts are NOT jungles!
As it turns out?
Japan didn't get either one.

25 years ago....Bill Bryson wrote a book about AU that might have proved to be a cautionary tale for ANYONE contemplating invading your country.
It might be a little easier TODAY with advances in navigation, communication, and logistics BUT(!!!!!!!)
It STILL would not be EASY!

 

Bob Wilson

 

A lie can make it half way around the world......

 

.....

 

Rand Paul calls on DOGE to investigate SNAP amid accusations of fraud

"WASHINGTON (TNND) — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Wednesday called on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to launch a probe into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over allegations of fraud and abuse within the program.
The senator took to X where he shared comments from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins alleging the program, also know as food stamps, is “ripe” with internal corruption. Sen. Paul said such concerns are alarming.
“Taxpayers are on the hook for $400 million/day in SNAP funding, and the program is riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse,” he wrote. “Time to get @ElonMusk and @DOGE involved so we know how widespread this issue is.”"

7/11/2025
USDA employees' $66 million SNAP fraud revealed; cuts come later
"The Justice Department recently unsealed details of an unprecedented fraud scheme that siphoned off $66 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Six individuals, including a USDA fraud investigator, are accused of running a network of roughly 160 unauthorized EBT terminals across New York City, funneling more than $30 million in illegal SNAP transactions. As federal prosecutors and the USDA Office of Inspector General (USDA‑OIG) celebrate the bust, states face a looming change: under a Trump‐backed law effective FY2028, they will begin bearing financial responsibility for SNAP payment errors above 6%."

 

Ah.....a "donor state..."

 

I am a slow learner... but I am finally beginning to understand the animosity toward any sort of Government Cost Cutting or investigation of Government spending in certain parts of our country... many of these northeastern states and California are just immersed in corruption schemes to bilk the Federal Government out of as much taxpayer money as possible - from government kickbacks to house illegal aliens in luxury hotels, to inflating their states with free medical dollars by providing illegal migrants free medical care and education, SNAP Corruption Schemes, Welfare Fraud Rings, Medicare Fraud Rings, Social Security Disability Fraud, Building High Speed Railroads to Nowhere and etc etc etc .... ... no wonder Chuck Schumer, Governor Newsome, Elizabeth Warren, AOC, Bernie Sanders and the corrupt New York Attorney General raise so much hell.... their entire states financial existences depend on these Federal Corruption Schemes to launder Federal Taxpayer Dollars in their states!

 

Yup!
HOWEVER (comma!!!!)
To be fair, they're not the only ones.
There has not been a single administration since Bubba that has shown the slightest glimmer of fiscal responsibility.
GWOT was a boon to the white collar welfare that is the military procurement empire.
It would almost be worth it if we were not building yesterday's tech at tomorrow's price point.
(F35, DDG1000, M7/M18, LCS....)
Those giant monster mega companies are smart.
They put just as many facilities in blue congressional districts as they do red ones.

Then? We went to 'Shovel Ready' in 08 - two lies for the price of one.
BUT....Trump just outdid that with B3.... -THREE lies for one BIG A** price.
Biden (or whoever was driving once they took Grandpa's keys) created the "Inflation Reduction Act" which worked about as well as everything else did while he was in office - and because Orwell's 1984 is being taken as a "how to" book lately?
He (or whoever was driving once they took Grandpa's keys) ACTUALLY TRIED to create a Ministry of Truth!!!

Can't make this stuff up, kids.

Now?
We're starving children because we're trying to reduce the rate of additional debt.
Really?
The only thing I know that would make today's kids lose weight would be for them to be unable to pry themselves away from their screens long enough to grab another 'Party Size' bag of artificially coloured snacks.

In 1939, WW2 kicked off - sorta.
It actually STARTED a long time before that if you ask a lot of people in Asia, but in 1939 the the sun still did not set on the British Empire.
The U.S. Army ranked around 17th to 19th globally in size and combat power, roughly the size of Portugal.
One recurring problem when we started getting ready for WW2 was that roughly half of the would-be inductees failed to meet physical norms because they were underfed as children during the Great Depression.

Now?
MORE THAN HALF of our potential new recruits either fail physical norms because of hopelessly high body fat, low physical standards or they cannot pass the ASVAB test!

 

how much is the bbb going to save us?

 

Don't know what you are saying with this post, but I'll note the USDA Office of the Inspecter General was part of the force to uncover and end the fraud. The OIGs are an important tool in fighting fraud and waste. Yet one of Trump's and DOGE's first actions was the fire the leadership of all these offices. Trump removes inspectors general, including Fong at USDA | TheFencePost.com

Some have said it is because they weren't doing their jobs, but SNAP's error rate(includes more than fraud and underpayments) has been drop from 2023 to 2024. SNAP payment error rates by state, FY 2003–24 - The Hamilton Project

Then there is this. "U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox Business she believes that 20 to 30% of the program’s annual funding — now estimated closer to $200 billion — may be lost to fraud. The recently uncovered $66 million scheme, she says, is “just the tip of the spear.” So the current administration has only caught 0.11% of the $60 billion in fraud they claim exists. How bad were those old Inspectors General?
https://moneywise.com/news/trumps-usda-just-uncovered-one-of-the-largest-food-stamp-fraud-bribery-schemes-in-us-history

The amount stolen in NY is twice that in California, which has double NY's population. Then the red state of Tenn. has less than half of NY's population while having twice the amount stolen.

Or maybe we should look more to the domestic and international crime rings doing the stealing.
USDA, Secret Service link EBT SNAP fraud to international crime rings

We likely won't be getting accurate figures for the amounts stolen in the future, as the federal program to reimburse those whose SNAP benefits were stolen has ended on Dec 20, 2024.

Like the USAID cuts, it could save us money by starving people. This time in the US.
Warning Issued From 23 States Over SNAP Benefit Cuts - Newsweek

 

Actually?
TN is more of a 'conservative' state than a 'red' one, and it's illustrative of the DNC's shift away from its core constituencies since 2000.
Think about it.
Double the US minority demo.
Four relatively large urban centres.
An increasing number of ex-pats from other states.
However (comma!!!!)
That's being talked about elsewhere.

I don't really have a problem with SNAP, MY problem is that it is horribly administered.
How can you have 'food insecurity' in a nation where half of the top ten causes of death are diet related?

Easy.
One example:
Red Bull is a SNAP eligible item, AND....it's easily convertible into cash (or drugs.)
Every church I know about has an active food assistance programme and every school I know of has summer feeding and backpack meal programs.
IN A NATION of LARD BUTTS.

 

Is it possible the Dem have let this BBB get through by the narrowest of margins, so he can stamp out all the small time fraud and gather it together in one Big Beautiful Bunny, that they could catch and skin while feeding off all the fat that bunny had collected for at least the next few terms?

Let's face it, if that much fraud can be taken out in one hit, the obesity of the US working class (those that didn't benefit from the Big Bunnies Bill) leaving a very small percentage of the citizens with obese wallets, to be stripped of that wealth fat .... maybe some of it could even pay down the national debt ......

Then the Dems can claim they trimmed down the fraud, waistline and national debt, all in half a term, then they should be allowed to govern for the next 4 yrs .......

You need a third alternative, a choice that doesn't go to either side, but one to "Keep the Bastards Honest" as the leader of the alternative govt spouted over here in Aust ...... It did at least fertilise the ground for the Teal Party, a loose collection of independents that control the winning power base direct to a degree, gaining support when the party in charge is seen not doing the right thing .... or even what they said they would do ..... Change MAGA to Make your vote count again ..... but it needs a better acronym

T1 Terry

 

It still doesn't justify our "dear leader" Trump insulting our neighbor Canada and it's Sovereignty with stupid references to "51st State" ! I say, SPANK HIM, SPANK HIM CHERRY RED until he apologizes for his senility. At least someone in North America is standing on guard! BRAVO!