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After decades of free spending, Washington is facing some unpalatable choices - The Washington Post
WorldBy David J. Lynch, Steve Thompson8/22/20261 min read
As the national debt surpasses $40 trillion, lawmakers may soon be compelled to make some long-deferred choices that will leave few Americans unscathed.
✨ Key Highlights
- The U.S. national debt has climbed past $40 trillion, a milestone driven by decades of the federal government spending more than it collects in tax revenue.
- Each year's budget shortfall adds to the accumulated debt, a trend that began gradually but has accelerated dramatically over time.
- Lawmakers may soon face long-postponed decisions about federal spending and taxation, choices that have been deferred for years.
- The potential remedies are described as unpalatable, with the implication that virtually no segment of the American public would be spared their effects.
- The mounting debt has defied repeated warnings about the consequences of persistent deficit spending.
Year after year, the federal government has spent more than it collected in taxes. Each annual shortfall increased the national debt, slowly at first and then by leaps, defying warnings of an inevita