On a periodic basis we do some posts that fall under the theme of “by the numbers.” Rather than trust what the American political tells us about reality, we like to examine the real numbers and the real reality in the world to understand what is actually going on. Relying on politicians, and their cohorts in the media, to tell us what is reality is always a sucker bet. They have their own agendas and goals, usually centering around their needs and self-enrichment. So we need to look at the reality of the numbers to determine what is really going on.
Previous analyses of “by the numbers” can be accessed by entering the phrase in the search box above. This is the third and final post this month where we look at the numbers to truly find out how good, not likely, or bad, most likely, the American political class is doing in managing our tax dollars, protecting our freedoms, and resolving major issues that affect all of us.
1) Unfortunately, millions and millions of Americans have to depend on an inefficient and often comical Federal government for their healthcare, whether it is via Medicare or Medicaid. As we have discussed many other times in this blog, both programs, along with Social Security, are hurtling towards financial insolvency and are infested with corruption.
And short term, the news gets worse at least as it pertains to Medicaid:
About 84 million Americans are covered by Medicaid, up from about 64 million in the past three years.
The fact that 20 more millions had to seek help from Medicaid for their health insurance is another piece of proof of what a dramatic failure Obama Care was,
But as many as 14 million could lose their Medicaid coverage as states begin the audit process of checking for eligibility.
One reason someone might lose their Medicaid coverage will be if their current income now exceeds the Medicaid threshold.
Odds are that if someone was at one time eligible for Medicaid because of a low income, they probably are not rolling in money now that they exceed the Medicaid income thresholds. All of which throws them into the Obama Care world where they are unlikely to be able to afford an Obama Care health insurance policy unless their income zoomed higher from their Medicaid eligible income levels.
Plus, they will find with an Obama Care policy the face high deductibles, higher out of pocket costs, fewer doctors to visit, etc. Thus, despite Obama’s lofty promises with his namesake health insurance legislation, healthcare continues to be expensive and out of reach for many American families as about 14 million Americans are about to find out.
2) There is no doubt that more and more Americans are dying every year from drug overdoses. Over the past few years, the main driver of these increased deaths has been the outrageous flow of deadly fentanyl that has cascaded over the southern border after Biden instituted an open border policy along the border with Mexico.
How bad has the increase in fentanyl been? Consider some recent numbers from Arizona:
Tempe, Arizona law enforcement authorities recently disclosed the huge amount of illegal drug running in their jurisdiction and what drugs they have intercepted.
They intercepted over 4.5 MILLION fentanyl pills heading into the country.
They intercepted 140 pounds of fentanyl powder heading into the country.
They intercepted 135 kilos of cocaine.
They intercepted 3000 pounds of methamphetamines,
They intercept 35 kilos of heroin.
They intercepted 49 weapons along with $2 million in cash.
These drugs came from the Sinola Mexican drug cartel.
Nationally, the DEA estimates that in 2022 they intercepted almost 51 million fentanyl pills and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl power, enough to kill over 379 million people.
Given that there are about 330 million Americans in the country today, just what was intercepted by the DEA is enough to kill off the entire population of the country with room to spare.
Last September more than 1 million fentanyl pills were seized from a single home in Avondale, Arizona.
This is just one fatal consequence for Americans of Biden’s failed border policies…or lack of border policies. And keep in mind, these are the illegal drugs that were fortuantely seized. Imagine how many illegal drugs made it safely onto the streets of the country and how many Americans are going to die from this flood of illegal drugs and Biden’s failed border policies. Horrifying.
3) A serious problem facing the future financial viability of the country that we have discussed far too many times is the ever expanding Federal government’s national debt. The Federal government has current debt obligations that exceed $31,000,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars. And this debt figure does NOT include the tens of trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities in the Social Security and Medicare systems.
At some point in time, one or more of the following things will have to happen:
The Federal government will get its financial house in order and stop spending more than what it gathers in taxes.
Benefits to Social Security and Medicare recipients will be cut dramtcially, resulting in financial and medical hardships for tens of millions of Americans.
The debt will eventually crush the faith in the dollar, resulting in hyper inflation and the destruction of our democracy.
Based on past and current political class behavior in Washington, I highly doubt that the first outcome listed above will ever become reality, just look at the current numbers and trends:
Based on current Congressional Budget Office forecasts, just the interest on the national debt will be $10.5 TRILLION over the next decade.
This means that every man, woman and child in the country will have to pony up about $32,000 just to cover the interest on the national debt, never mind paying down the debt and paying for government services.
Interest on the national debt was an eye popping $475 trillion in 2022 alone.
Interest as a percentage of the national debt will rise from 1.9% in 2022 to almost double, 3.6% in 2033.
Payment on interest debt will exceed the amount of money the Federal government spends on national defense by 2028, the amount spent on Medicare by 2044, and the mount spent on Scoail Security by 2050.
If current trends hold, by 2053 the annual Federal government budget will spend 40% of tis annual budget just to service the interest on the debt and will be approximately 7.2% of GDP, more than three times the amount today.
The good news is that these trends are unlikely to become reality. The bad news is they will unlikely become reality because long before 2053, the Federal government will default on its debt obligations, the economy will crash, the dollar will become devalued, hyper inflation will be the reality and our freedoms will be crushed.
Every dollar spent on funding the national debt interest is a dollar that cannot be spent to fix our crumbling infrastructure. Every dollar spent on funding the national debt interest is a dollar that cannot be spent on fixing our broken education processes. Every dollar spent on funding the national debt interest is a dollar that cannot be spent to shore up the failing Medicare and Social Security systems. And every dollar spent on funding the national debt interest is a dollar that American families cannot spend on living their lives they way they would like.
As always, the numbers do not lie: the country is heading down a road of fiscal disaster, the country is being over run by tons and tons of illegal drugs, drugs that are killing Americans in ever growing numbers, and Medicaid may be the canary in the coal mine when it comes to government not being able to fulfill its promises for Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
No comments:
Post a Comment