This is how much every single US taxpayer owes...

[UNCBullMarket]

$238,000 if you evenly distributed the national debt (which is about to top $38 trillion.....which is scarier looking when you look at it like this....$38,000,000,000,000) to every taxpayer.

Our interest expense alone is over a trillion dollars per year and tops how much we spend in national defense now.

I see this more as an economics discussion (I know we aren't supposed to do politics here), but just think about that number the next time the folks in DC talk about adding any new spending (like right now during the shutdown). This debt/deficit is one thing that neither side can blame the other on, because they've all contributed to it mightily.

Sorry, go ahead and lock it up if you want, but I heard that number today and it just really hit hard, and it feels like a public service announcement to make people realize how truly big that per person number is now. Only one word comes to mind...unsustainable. Yes, we can print more money to pay it off, but all that will do is bring on massive inflation, which we've all learned in the last few years REALLY sucks. I also read that the US Dollar has lost well over 90% of its purchasing power in the last century. This is one of the big issues that is going to define the next century in my humble opinion.

 

[ronjon]

Well I'm ready to write a check right now if everyone else is. Heck even if we cut that number in half we'd be in great shape.

I do wish folks were more serious about it.

 

[unctarheel1984]

There are no adults in the room and there haven’t been in decades.

 

[mpaer]

So we are here-where to go to fix it
I would suggest we need to tax more and spend less-both, at least until we " catch up "
Where are the big spending items ? Health Care, Defense and Debt, right?
Do we pay for less Health care-cut health Care provided-or figure out a way to spend less-i.e. squeeze Providers to curb costs, curb poifits-make less? Sure, make individuals pay more, govt less-but clearly that Mostly just means those on the margins will get less Health care . Not a good idea
Do we regroup on Defense-maybe we need a new approach on the Variety of things we prepare for ? Or in part do we squeeze Militay Contractors to curb cost-make less?
Debt is of course in theory able to be reduced by inflation-if you stop piling it up-which we are not

Then the "income" side We likely need to rethink how/what we tax. Todays economic realities have folks being able to pile up Billions in wealth-with literally zero tax liability-unless they sell their stock. That seems dumb Continuing to cut the tax liabilities for the Folks/firms that have trillions in wealth seems dumb?

 

[kik84]

The country is, what they call, "functionally bankrupt."

 

[kik84]

So we are here-where to go to fix it
I would suggest we need to tax more and spend less-both, at least until we " catch up "
Where are the big spending items ? Health Care, Defense and Debt, right?
Do we pay for less Health care-cut health Care provided-or figure out a way to spend less-i.e. squeeze Providers to curb costs, curb poifits-make less? Sure, make individuals pay more, govt less-but clearly that Mostly just means those on the margins will get less Health care . Not a good idea
Do we regroup on Defense-maybe we need a new approach on the Variety of things we prepare for ? Or in part do we squeeze Militay Contractors to curb cost-make less?
Debt is of course in theory able to be reduced by inflation-if you stop piling it up-which we are not

Then the "income" side We likely need to rethink how/what we tax. Todays economic realities have folks being able to pile up Billions in wealth-with literally zero tax liability-unless they sell their stock. That seems dumb Continuing to cut the tax liabilities for the Folks/firms that have trillions in wealth seems dumb?

I was not a fan of the Big Beautiful Bill. Way too much spending. Defense, especially, was egregious.

I was in favor of what Ron Johnson proposed, going back to pre-pandemic levels of spending, but adjusting for inflation and population growth.

Per Google AI:

According to Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, returning to pre-pandemic spending levels would involve decreasing the annual federal deficit from an average of $1.9 trillion (under President Biden) to the pre-COVID average of approximately $660 billion. He advocates for significant spending cuts to achieve this, arguing that the increased spending during the pandemic was an irresponsible and unsustainable aberration.

Ron Johnson's argument for reducing spending

• The problem: Johnson argues that government spending exploded during the pandemic and has remained at an unacceptably high level. He states that while the average annual deficit in the seven years before the pandemic was about $660 billion, President Biden's average annual deficit over four years was $1.9 trillion. He calls this "the new normal" and says he cannot accept it.
• The solution: Johnson advocates for returning to a "reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending" by making significant spending cuts. In June 2025, he released a 30-page report that suggested a 14.6% cut to federal spending over 10 years to return to pre-pandemic deficit levels.
• The methodology: He has suggested that this can be achieved by scrutinizing every federal program, stating that "hundreds of billions of dollars" of waste, fraud, and abuse could be eliminated with a close look at the budget. He supports a "line-by-line" review of the more than 2,600 programs in the federal government.
• Historical context: As a comparison, Johnson has cited federal spending levels from previous administrations, such as in 1998 (under President Bill Clinton) and 2014 (under President Barack Obama), as examples of what might be a more sustainable spending level.

 

[unctarheel1984]

That’s entirely too reasonable for either party.

 

[Tyler4Cameron0]

I’m all for cutting defense spending over the next decade. First thing up - start pulling our military out of Europe and let them pony up for their own defense. These Western European nations rely on the US taxpayer to subsidize their defense which allows them to devote less of their budget on it themselves and put more toward their social welfare programs like socialized medicine. In essence, we (US taxpayers) are subsidizing their government provided healthcare while we also have to pay for our own through ever increasing insurance premiums and growing out of pockets costs.

 

[UNCatTech]

Well I'm ready to write a check right now if everyone else is. Heck even if we cut that number in half we'd be in great shape.

I do wish folks were more serious about it.

90% of America isn't this fortunate.

I listen to Ramit Sethi's podcast and he has so many people on there who are struggling with money. I've probably listened to over 100 episodes and I'd say 5% might could afford this.

Our leaders don't seem to care.

 

[UNCatTech]

I was not a fan of the Big Beautiful Bill. Way too much spending. Defense, especially, was egregious.

I was in favor of what Ron Johnson proposed, going back to pre-pandemic levels of spending, but adjusting for inflation and population growth.

Per Google AI:

According to Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, returning to pre-pandemic spending levels would involve decreasing the annual federal deficit from an average of $1.9 trillion (under President Biden) to the pre-COVID average of approximately $660 billion. He advocates for significant spending cuts to achieve this, arguing that the increased spending during the pandemic was an irresponsible and unsustainable aberration.

Ron Johnson's argument for reducing spending

• The problem: Johnson argues that government spending exploded during the pandemic and has remained at an unacceptably high level. He states that while the average annual deficit in the seven years before the pandemic was about $660 billion, President Biden's average annual deficit over four years was $1.9 trillion. He calls this "the new normal" and says he cannot accept it.
• The solution: Johnson advocates for returning to a "reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending" by making significant spending cuts. In June 2025, he released a 30-page report that suggested a 14.6% cut to federal spending over 10 years to return to pre-pandemic deficit levels.
• The methodology: He has suggested that this can be achieved by scrutinizing every federal program, stating that "hundreds of billions of dollars" of waste, fraud, and abuse could be eliminated with a close look at the budget. He supports a "line-by-line" review of the more than 2,600 programs in the federal government.
• Historical context: As a comparison, Johnson has cited federal spending levels from previous administrations, such as in 1998 (under President Bill Clinton) and 2014 (under President Barack Obama), as examples of what might be a more sustainable spending level.

In addition the big ugly bill reduced tax revenues to the government. How is that going to help balance the budget?

 

[UNCChris2001]

Locking, politics.