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Each Thursday, I'll give you the scoop on the good news coming out of Washington, and how you can get involved with this thing called democracy. Welcome back to another episode of the Oregon news podcast. In the recent weeks, I have been talking all things the debt ceiling. And so as everything is settled, a new debt ceiling or spending of the current debt ceiling has happened. I also want to take a moment to dig in even deeper to give you more insights I've commonly referred to the debt ceiling as the US is national credit card. But what is our national debt? What does it stand at? What could it mean for us long term and so I'm going to dive in even deeper, more debt talk today. So the US National debt refers to the total amount of money owed by the US to creditors, both domestic and foreign. It's the cumulative borrowing that the government has taken over time to finance budget deficits. So when the government has spent more than it gets in, so it spends more than the revenue it gets in from taxes and other sources. That's when we're in a deficit. The national debt, as I've said many, many times, is like a personal credit card. The different types of debt, though, are non marketable and marketable securities. Going to be honest, I had to dig in even deeper, because I was like, what does that mean? I thought that was debt was dead. I guess it's not so marketable. Treasury securities are treasury bills, notes bonds issued by the US Department of Treasury to borrow money from individuals, institutions and foreign governments. So maybe when your child, a grandparent bought you a bond, that's an example of a marketable security. These securities are considered safe investments since they're backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. That's why passing the debt ceiling bill was so important, because the credit of the US government is basically our name, then there are non marketable securities, so savings bonds, government account series, and state and local government series. Those cannot be sold to other investors. The current size of the US national debt is often measured in trillions. Yes, you are that right? Trillions of dollars, and it's currently at $31.47 trillion. Take that in for a second. That is a lot of money. It's influenced by a variety of factors, government spending, tax policies, economic conditions, interest rates. So you think about how these things all enter play. It's really important that we are thinking about if we're going to spend more, maybe we need to do this on tax policy, or if we're, the economic conditions aren't great. And we have seen that happen in the last few years. Maybe we need to consider a different policy, all four of those things. So spending tax policies, economic conditions, and interest rates play a huge role in our debt. When the government runs a budget deficit, it has to borrow money by issuing more Treasury securities, Inc, increasing the national debt. Conversely, when there is a budget surplus, which hasn't happened since the 90s, the government can use the excess funds to pay down the debt. That would be nice. So how does the recent debate that we have all witnessed plan to this, the debt ceiling as a reminder is a piece of legislation, Congress has to pass it and the president must sign it to become law. It is like a credit limit. It is the highest you can go without going any further. Unlike a personal credit card though. The US government can just adjust the debt ceiling. You can't call that credit card company and say, yeah, maybe give me some more a line of credit. When that we hit the debt ceiling. You have to go through the extraordinary measures you have to do all This, these different considerations, you can't just raise it, you know, the Treasury Department can't just raise it, it has to be an act of Congress, which, as we see often is not easy. So, since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times, to either permanently raise so giving a exact dollar limit that it could go to temporarily suspend or revise the definition of the debt limit. The US national debt, though, has been steadily increasing over the last few years. You've seen it. And I mean, really, since the 90s. And then with COVID, did not help the economic downturn and OAE also added to it. Some level of debt, though, is okay. And Wallace has been increasing over the last few years, having some debt can be necessary necessary for economic growth and stability. However, high and rapid growing national debt can cause consequences. This is how that national security economic security kind of plays into the consideration. You may have heard that in the last few weeks, this is a national security threat. If we default, things that could happen with rapid growth of a debt of the debt, increased interest payments, we would all feel that reduced flexibility and fiscal policy, it would back lawmakers into a corner to have to make very few decisions. And as you know, Congress hasn't do well when they're told exactly what to do. Potential inflationary pressures. I think we've all been experiencing inflation over the last years, OR, AND, and OR a burden on future generations. 31.47 is the current national debt. That is massive. That equals I think about $250,000 per taxpaying adult, it's a lot of money, that of the debt of the US government. I will say, managing and addressing the national debt, though, is a complex task. I think we've all witnessed this. It requires careful considerations on planning, discipline, consideration on how those discipline and planning impacts long term growth. I think leaders really have to come to terms and an agreement on how to balance the need of government spending. With the goal of maintaining a sustainable level of debt, I would argue 31.4 $7 trillion dollars is not sustainable. And I think you'll hear that coming even more following the deal that's passed and signed by the president as of June 3, to suspend the limit until 2025. So that kicking the can to the next session of Congress, and the next presidential term may then be President Biden or another person, lawmakers are going to need to continue to have a debt ceiling conversation. And in the context of our spending, lawmakers will hopefully continue to debate what we as a country need to do to reign and the trajectory we on it's not sustainable. I think everyone during this debate agreed upon, it's not sustainable. But the hard part is, where do we find the cuts? Are there tax increases needed? What do we do to address the mountain of debt that we as a country are under and that, you know, I said earlier, other countries can buy our debt? That is a scary concept. Think about the fact that a foreign adversary could buy our debt? That doesn't sit well. So it's my hope that this continues a conversation. I think it will I think we'll see how the appropriations process turns out, what do they do? How do they get do they achieve regular order, ie the 12 bills? Or do they have to go with an omnibus of some sort more will be delved into soon. And you know, also the national debt has economic and national security concerns, and it's my sincere hope that good policy comes forth. So stay tuned. More to come, as I often say, and I hope today's episode helps give you even more insights into the debt and why it's so crucial that we address it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again for spending time with the Oregon news podcast today. Thank you for spending your morning, afternoon evening with me. We appreciate it. I say we as if I have a mouse in my pocket, but thank you so much. It really means a lot. And as always, tune in next week to another episode of the organised podcast.