US federal budget crosses grim milestone as interest payments overtake defense spending

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Interest Payments News

Federal Spending,National Defense,Interest Expenses

Interest payments on the national debt are set to eclipse defense spending this year for the first time ever.

Yet this spending is rapidly being eclipsed by the fastest-growing portion of federal outflows: interest payments on the national debt., making 2024 the first year ever that the United States will spend more on interest payments than on national defense.Interest is now the third-biggest expenditure after Social Security and health. And not because any of the other programs are shrinking.

But in 2022, the Federal Reserve started jacking up rates to tame inflation, and the government now pays an average interest rate of 3.3%. So, the amount of borrowed money keeps going up, and the cost of borrowing that money is rising too. Trump says he’d encourage more oil and natural gas drilling, which would somehow produce a windfall of tax revenue that would pay down the debt. But there’sBesides, both men have presided over a huge run-up in the national debt.

Which reveals the real reason no politician wants to address the problem — everyone hopes it'll be the guy after them. Conservative attorney George Conway said Monday that former President Trump’s description of the security outside the Manhattan courthouse is an “amazing lie.” In remarks to reporters on Monday, Trump compared the scene outside the courthouse — where his hush money criminal trial is taking place — to Fort Knox.

Under Justin Trudeau, income equality has risen, which was the plan. But people's self-assessed happiness has declined.

 

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