Claim: Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt soon will eclipse the entire size of our national economy.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Abdul Hassan (lawyer)
text: "because the national debt and deficit are so large it is impossible to solve the deficit and debt problem with spending cuts and/or tax increases without destroying our way of life. The significant tax increases or spending cuts needed to solve the debt problem would have such a huge negative impact on our standard of living that any politician voting for such measures would be voted out of office." Under his plan, all budget deficits will be funded by bonds purchased by the Federal Reserve Bank. He said "We will no longer sell bonds to other countries or to Wall

title: National debt of the United States
text: 42 percent of GDP in 2039. By comparison, such debt comprised 35 percent of GDP in 2007 and has averaged 39 percent of GDP during the past 40 years. The CBO reported in September 2011: "The nation cannot continue to sustain the spending programs and policies of the past with the tax revenues it has been accustomed to paying. Citizens will either have to pay more for their government, accept less in government services and benefits, or both." The CBO reported several types of risk factors related to rising debt levels in a July 2010 publication: Many American and other

title: Addison Wiggin
text: Dollar Era. We're in an unsustainable trend right now," Wiggin told me, ticking off the miscalculations that have brought us to the brink of an economic apocalypse. To begin with, the U.S. has become the world's biggest debtor, with three outstanding obligations at alarming highs: consumer debt, or our mortgages and credit cards; the federal deficit; and our current account deficit with foreign countries. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Wiggin continued, has simply shifted one bubble -- the 90's bubble in stocks and bonds -- into another, in real estate and "overconsumption," or the American propensity to pay for an

title: Douglas Elmendorf
text: covers tax policy, it covers regulatory policy and it covers health policy." He noted that New figures released 30 June 2011 by the CBO show debt rising to 190 percent of the gross domestic product by 2035. Economists have warned that exceeding 90 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is a prescription for a debt crisis. "The current level of debt is reducing our output, our incomes relative to what would be the case if we had a lower level of debt, leaving aside the effects of this particular recession, which complicate that," Elmendorf said. As of 2011 debt to

title: National debt of the United States
text: jobs, we are doing far more harm to future generations than merely passing along debt: "Fiscal policy is, indeed, a moral issue, and we should be ashamed of what we're doing to the next generation's economic prospects. But our sin involves investing too little, not borrowing too much." Young workers face high unemployment and studies have shown their income may lag throughout their careers as a result. Teacher jobs have been cut, which could affect the quality of education and competitiveness of younger Americans. The US has never fully defaulted. In April 1979, however, the United States may have technically

title: Economy of the United States
text: budget, total national debt will grow to nearly 100% of GDP, versus a level of approximately 80% in early 2009. The White House estimates that the government's tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion in 2009. The U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end of 2006, non-US citizens and institutions held 44% of federal debt held by the public. , China, holding $1.26 trillion in treasury bonds, is the largest foreign financier of the U.S. public debt. The overall financial position of the United States as of 2014 includes

title: Economy of the United States
text: the Great Recession and its aftermath. It is expected to continue rising as the country ages towards 100% GDP by 2028. The U.S. public debt was $909 billion in 1980, an amount equal to 33% of America's gross domestic product (GDP); by 1990, that number had more than tripled to $3.2 trillion—or 56% of GDP. In 2001 the national debt was $5.7 trillion; however, the debt-to-GDP ratio remained at 1990 levels. Debt levels rose quickly in the following decade, and on January 28, 2010, the U.S. debt ceiling was raised to $14.3 trillion. Based on the 2010 United States federal

title: National debt of the United States
text: could not be sustained indefinitely. By 2039, the deficit would equal 6.5 percent of GDP, larger than in any year between 1947 and 2008, and federal debt held by the public would reach 106 percent of GDP, more than in any year except 1946—even without factoring in the economic effects of growing debt. The "extended alternative fiscal scenario" assumes the continuation of present trends, which result in a more unfavorable debt position and adverse economic consequences relative to the baseline scenario. The CBO reported in July 2014 that under this scenario: [C]ertain policies that are now in place but are

title: National debt of the United States
text: under the extended baseline with economic feedback, and that interest rates would be about three-quarters of a percentage point higher. Reflecting the budgetary effects of those economic developments, federal debt would rise to 183 percent of GDP in 2039. Over the long-term, the CBO projects that interest expense and mandatory spending categories (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security) will continue to grow relative to GDP, while discretionary categories (e.g., Defense and other Cabinet Departments) continue to fall relative to GDP. Debt is projected to continue rising relative to GDP under the above two scenarios, although the CBO did also offer

title: National debt of the United States
text: measure of the total size and output of the economy. One measure of the debt burden is its size relative to GDP, called the "debt-to-GDP ratio." Mathematically, this is the debt divided by the GDP amount. The Congressional Budget Office includes historical budget and debt tables along with its annual "Budget and Economic Outlook." Debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP rose from 34.7% GDP in 2000 to 40.5% in 2008 and 67.7% in 2011. Mathematically, the ratio can decrease even while debt grows if the rate of increase in GDP (which also takes account of inflation)

title: National debt of the United States
text: corporate tax rate and the expanded ability to immediately deduct the full value of equipment purchases". According to the Treasury report in early October, summarized by "Business Insider"'s Bob Bryan, the US federal budget deficit rose as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 22, 2017 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 signed into law on March 23, 2018. In a October 16, 2018 interview with Bloomberg News, Mitch McConnell said that the debt was driven by "the three big entitlement programs that are very popular, Medicare,

title: Peter R. Orszag
text: in New York, said that deficits, which were expected to add $9 trillion to the existing national debt of $12 trillion over the next decade, are "serious and ultimately unsustainable." He said that deficit spending was necessary to help boost the economy when unemployment is hovering around 10 percent. But he said that red ink must be stopped as the economy recovers. During a recovery, private investment will again pick up and compete with the federal government for capital. In July 2010 Orszag said that "The problem now is weak growth and high unemployment rather than outright economic collapse,". Still,

title: Balanced budget amendment
text: debt. A recession, tax cuts and increases in military and other spending have eliminated late 1990s-era surpluses. Both the deficit and debt grew to the largest in U.S. history. In fiscal years starting September 30, 2002, and ending September 30, 2004, the deficit increased nearly 50%. By 2008, the last full year of George W. Bush's presidency, the deficit had almost doubled again, for the first time exceeding $1 trillion. As a result, during the administration of President George W. Bush, the "gross debt" increased from $5.7 trillion in January 2001 to $10.7 trillion by December 2008, rising from 57.0%

title: Recession
text: Krugman wrote in December 2010 that significant, sustained government spending was necessary because indebted households were paying down debts and unable to carry the U.S. economy as they had previously: "The root of our current troubles lies in the debt American families ran up during the Bush-era housing bubble...highly indebted Americans not only can’t spend the way they used to, they’re having to pay down the debts they ran up in the bubble years. This would be fine if someone else were taking up the slack. But what’s actually happening is that some people are spending much less while nobody

title: Economic policy of the George W. Bush administration
text: measure of the national debt, rose from $3.41 trillion in 2000 (33.6% GDP) to $5.80 trillion in 2008 (39.3% GDP). However, CBO had forecast in 2001 that debt held by the public would fall to $1.0 trillion by 2008 (7.1% GDP). Interest on the debt (including both public and intragovernmental amounts) increased from $322 billion to $454 billion annually. The share of public debt owned by foreigners increased significantly from 31% in June 2001 to 50% in June 2008, with the dollar balance owed to foreigners increasing from $1.0 trillion to $2.6 trillion. This also significantly increased the interest payments

title: Unemployment in the United States
text: (related to the business cycle) or structural (related to underlying economic characteristics) and include, among others: Employment is both cause and response to the economic growth rate, which can be affected by both government fiscal policy (spending and tax decisions) and monetary policy (Federal Reserve action.) The U.S. ran historically large annual debt increases from 2008 to 2013, adding over $1 trillion in total national debt annually from fiscal year 2008 to 2012. The deficit expanded primarily due to a severe financial crisis and recession. With a U.S. GDP of approximately $17 trillion, the spending implied by this deficit comprises

title: Household debt
text: debt overhang then began holding back the economy as consumers paid down debt (which reduces economic activity) rather than spending. Paul Krugman wrote in December 2010: "The root of our current troubles lies in the debt American families ran up during the Bush-era housing bubble. Twenty years ago, the average American household’s debt was 83 percent of its income; by a decade ago, that had crept up to 92 percent; but by late 2007, debts were 130 percent of income. All this borrowing took place both because banks had abandoned any notion of sound lending and because everyone assumed that

title: National debt of the United States
text: declined. The ratio of debt to GDP may decrease as a result of a government surplus or due to growth of GDP and inflation. For example, debt held by the public as a share of GDP peaked just after World War II (113% of GDP in 1945), but then fell over the following 35 years. In recent decades, aging demographics and rising healthcare costs have led to concern about the long-term sustainability of the federal government's fiscal policies. The aggregate, gross amount that Treasury can borrow is limited by the United States debt ceiling. As of October 28, 2018, debt

title: United States debt-ceiling crisis of 2011
text: passed by the Senate. The national debt rose $238 billion (or about 60% of the new debt ceiling) on August 3, the largest one-day increase in the history of the United States. The US debt surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product for the first time since World War II. According to the International Monetary Fund, the US joined a group of countries whose public debt exceeds their GDP. The group includes Japan (229 percent), Greece (152 percent), Jamaica (137 percent), Lebanon (134 percent), Italy (120 percent), Ireland (114 percent), and Iceland (103 percent). The NASDAQ, ASX, and S&P 100

title: National debt of the United States
text: currently on the books will be implemented, for the most part. The CBO reported in July 2014 that under this scenario: If current laws remained generally unchanged in the future, federal debt held by the public would decline slightly relative to GDP over the next few years. After that, however, growing budget deficits would push debt back to and above its current high level. Twenty-five years from now, in 2039, federal debt held by the public would exceed 100 percent of GDP. Moreover, debt would be on an upward path relative to the size of the economy, a trend that