On this blog, I discuss important national issues often on fiscal and economic matters. Of course, this includes talking about how the President is doing, from time to time.
Today, I discuss my own views on what I consider to be our country’s biggest and most urgent problems. I do this occasionally to show where I am coming from when I talk about what we should be doing on particular issues.
Consider:
- The U.S. is the strongest and wealthiest country in the world. The reason for this success is our free market economic system and our brilliant system of government, a constitutional republic. Thus, we have both strong democracy and economic opportunity as well as natural advantages, such as bicoastal geography and friendly neighbors, both north and south. We also enjoy more personal freedom than most other countries.
- Except for the Civil War, necessary to abolish slavery, we have historically been able to resolve our differences peacefully. I expect this peaceful tradition to continue, even given the current political polarization between the two major parties.
- Our biggest national problem is our out-of-control national debt, especially our annual deficit spending, now nearly $2 trillion ( $1.84 trillion in FY 2024 and $1.78 trillion in FY 2025, just completed). To fix this very serious problem, we need to cut annual federal spending, now over $7 trillion per year, by at least $1 trillion. This cannot be done without reforming entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare to make them less expensive to the federal government. Unfortunately, President Trump is not sufficiently serious about our debt problem.
- We have several autocratic adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, with whom we are competing for global influence. China is by far our strongest rival. But China has major economic problems of its own (an overdependence on exports), and is unlikely to challenge us militarily. The recent trade agreement between Presidents Xi and Trump is likely to keep our competition peaceful for the time being.
- It is vitally important for the U.S. to maintain a strong military presence around the world to ward off problems when they arise. In this respect, working with our many democratic allies around the world is critical for our own national security. Except for some excessive tariffs on allies, President Trump is doing a good job in this respect.
- Is our democracy in danger? No, democracy is thriving in the U.S. President Trump is certainly pushing the limits of presidential authority, but, with one minor exception, he is abiding by judicial rulings. The Democrats simply need to become more moderate to do better in national elections.
Conclusion. The U.S. is a strong country both economically and militarily. We also have the huge benefit of much individual freedom. But our national debt is a huge and growing problem. We should cut federal spending by at least $1 trillion per year, to reduce our annual spending deficits to a more reasonable level. Unfortunately, given our current political polarization, it might take a new fiscal crisis to get this done.
It Does Not Add Up 
Well thought out analysis of our current position from both a domestic political view as well from an international engagement view. I would add only one thought to our nation’s current economic situation: the National Debt will never be resolved and the current national shut-down cannot be sufficiently resolved unless progressive Democrats somehow come to the conclusion that more spending on pet projects or on never ending handouts in the name of controlling votes are seriously reconsidered and pushed back from every legislative decision in Congress.
I think the current government shutdown will probably end soon just for practical reasons, e.g. getting air traffic controllers back to work.
However, seriously addressing our debt situation might require a new and very serious financial crisis to resolve because, unfortunately, it will require some pain for a lot of people to fix.