"Repubs Bad, Dems Worse"
Pols, polls and the bipartisan plot to drown America in debt...
by Joel Bowman
“I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member.”
~ Groucho Marx, RIP (1890-1977)
Houston, Texas - "Fear not, gentle reader, we’re in a “safe space” today. The Black Hole coffeeshop here in Houston, whence we pen these very words, brandishes all the signals a mental defective might require in order to enjoy a soy milk latte in peace, without feeling “triggered.” There’s a “Black Lives Matter” poster on the back wall, for instance... two “all gender” restrooms at the rear... a rainbow “pride” flag by the counter... and, in case anyone was unsure as to the establishment’s position vis-Ã -vis the current administration, a “Pro Jobs, Anti-Trump” sign, right by the community noticeboard. Subtle.
Yes, dear reader, we sit among the fearful... the certain... the blue-haired warriors combating, as they imagine it, the rise and rise of the Fourth Reich. They are the resistance... standing firmly against hate, bigotry, fascism... and proper definitions of terms.
Ah, but we have a soft spot for soft-headed underdogs. Which is why, in honor of the cafe’s commitment to “inclusivity,” we hereby dedicate today’s Note to the weird and wild denizens of the Black Hole, diverse in every manner imaginable... except, of course, when it comes to their unshakable word view. That said, let us turn from a subject upon which nobody seems to agree, identity politics, to one on which everyone can surely disagree… actual politics.
Way Back When: The latest punchline headline, from CNBC: "Trump’s approval rating still negative while the public sours further on Democrats, CNBC survey shows. According to the flailing Comcast network (Stephen Colbert’s soon-to-be-former employer), the public disapproves of the job Trump is doing as president by a 51%-46% margin. That’s slightly better than the April CNBC All-America Economic Survey, which had the president at 51%-44%."
But wait! What’s this? The Dems are in the tank, too... even among those inclined to answer surveys conducted by the mainstream media. From the same article: "Favorability of the Democratic Party among registered voters sank to a net -32 percentage points, with 24% positive and 56% negative. The -32 rating appeared to be the lowest rating for either party going back to at least 1996."
Ah, you remember 1996 don’t you, dear reader? The Internet was just getting going... William Jefferson Clinton had just won reelection... and the O.J. Simpson trial, recently concluded, had just laid bare the “integrity” of the American criminal justice system. Simpler times, eh?
Back then, Uncle Sam had a national debt of “only” $5.2 trillion... or around 65% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Almost 30 years on, thanks to the tireless, bipartisan efforts of your elected officials, those numbers have grown to $37 trillion and 121%, respectively.
That is, while the US economy has grown by an impressive 3.8 times during the past few decades... the national debt has ballooned to more than 7.2 times its original, 1996 size. In other words, the debt has rocketed at almost twice the rate of the underlying economy... and it’s only just hitting escape velocity.
At current rates – that is, assuming no costly wars, no unforeseen interruptions to economic growth, no manufactured “emergencies” or other mass psychosis events – America’s national debt is projected to hit $49 trillion by 2029... which would be ~140% of GDP... or around $382k per taxpaying citizen. For reference, America’s record debt-to-GDP ratio during the last century – “achieved” during WWII, no less – stood at “just” 119%.
The GDP Myth: As savvy readers have recently pointed out, GDP is indeed a sub-optimal measure of the size of an economy, in part because it includes the government’s deficit spending as a net positive under the expenditure method... when really it should be seen as a net drag on the “real” (i.e. private) economy.
Murray Rothbard, a key figure in the Austrian School of Economics, sought to address this convenient “oversight” when he proposed his twin alternative measures: Gross Private Product (GPP) and Private Product Remaining (PPR). (Interested readers can learn more about those in this Note from a few months back: "
Alice in Argentina.")
So far in this, the third millennium, successive administrations – and pork barreling congressmen on both sides of the aisle – have added almost $30 trillion to Uncle Sam’s credit card. That’s $6.1 trillion under George W. Bush (2001–2009); $8 trillion under Barack Obama (2009–2017); $7.9 trillion under Donald Trump I (2017–2021); and $5.7 trillion under Joe Biden (2021–2025)…and counting.
Is it any wonder private, hard-working, minding-their-own-business citizens have had enough? Or that they should be so readily “divided and conquered”? The aforementioned CNBC article concluded by stating the bleeding obvious: “Republicans remain solidly behind the president and Democrats solidly against. Half of independents disapprove of the president.”
To summarize: The right hates the left… the left hates the right… and nobody is happy with anybody. As the old saying goes, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time… which is why the world’s leading democracy has two political parties. Indeed, the slogan “Vote Nobody!” never sounded so appealing! Speaking of Argentina’s “libertarian laboratory,” your editor will (finally) be heading home next week. Look forward to our front row coverage of the Greatest Political Experiment of Our Age to resume promptly thereafter. In the meantime, thanks for your patience… and stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World..."
