US debt hits record $40 trillion as spending outpaces revenue
The US just hit a record $40 trillion in national debt, a number that's honestly hard to wrap your head around.
While some point fingers at tax cuts, the real driver has been years of government spending outpacing what the country brings in.
Since 2018, spending has averaged over 24% of GDP (compared to 20% before the pandemic), and revenue growth just hasn't kept up.
Interest payments $963B exceed defense, Medicare
Even though government revenue jumped 68% since 2018, it still couldn't cover all the extra expenses from things like pandemic relief, rising costs for social programs, and major bills like the infrastructure plan and Inflation Reduction Act.
To make things trickier, higher interest rates mean the US is now paying $963 billion during the first 10 months of this fiscal year, more than what goes to defense or Medicare.
Despite some tweaks last year, neither political party has made big moves to cut spending yet.