The One That Keeps the Rich On Top

Every time Democrats propose spending money to keep people housed, fed, healthy, or alive, the same chorus rises from the right: What about the debt? Suddenly, Republicans discover a deep and abiding concern for future generations. Oh my, the national credit card is “maxed out.” Suddenly, math becomes a moral cudgel.

This ritual is not about fiscal responsibility. It is about power.

Let’s start with a distinction conservatives routinely blur because clarity would weaken their argument: deficits and debt are not the same thing. The deficit is the yearly gap between spending and revenue. The debt is the cumulative result of past deficits. Pretending they are interchangeable allows any new spending—no matter how necessary—to be framed as permanent, catastrophic excess.

This sleight of hand is especially rich coming from the party that exploded deficits with repeated tax cuts for the wealthy, two unfunded wars, and a ballooning defense budget it refuses to scrutinize. When Republicans slash taxes for billionaires or shovel money into the Pentagon, the debt magically stops mattering. When children get a tax credit or families get healthcare, the sky is suddenly falling.

The United States is not a household. It does not “run out of money.” It issues debt in its own currency, the global reserve currency, and is backed by the largest economy on Earth. There is no hard ceiling where the U.S. suddenly goes broke. After World War II, national debt exceeded 120 percent of GDP—higher than today. The solution was not austerity. It was massive public investment that built the modern middle class. Growth, not cuts, brought the debt down.

What actually limits debt is not ideology, but economic reality. If the economy grows and inflation is controlled, higher debt levels are sustainable. The real risk is interest costs overwhelming public priorities—but that danger is driven far more by Congress’s refusal to tax wealth and capital than by spending on social programs.

Here is the uncomfortable truth Republicans won’t say out loud: the debt panic is selective by design. It is deployed to block redistribution downward while protecting redistribution upward. It is why there is always money for corporate bailouts, border militarization, and endless war—but never enough for housing, childcare, or universal healthcare. Debt isn’t the problem. The beneficiaries are.

Democratic politics starts from a simple, radical premise: survival comes first. People cannot participate in markets, democracy, or “personal responsibility” if they are sick, homeless, or starving. Spending to stabilize lives is not reckless, it is foundational. Debt that is used to invest in people pays dividends in productivity, public health, and social cohesion. Debt used to entrench inequality does the opposite.

The real fiscal crisis in America is not overspending. It is a rigged revenue system that lets vast fortunes compound untaxed while lawmakers pretend the only lever left is cutting food assistance or healthcare. We don’t have a debt problem. We have a governing class that refuses to confront wealth and would rather punish the poor than challenge donors.

So how high can the U.S. national debt go? Higher than today. Higher than conservatives admit when it suits them. The real question is not how much debt we carry, but what kind of society we are financing.

A country that can always afford tax cuts for the rich and violence abroad—but pleads poverty when asked to care for its own people—is not fiscally constrained. It is morally bankrupt.

Debt is a tool. Right now, it’s being wielded to preserve inequality and block progress. That’s not economics. That’s ideology pretending to be arithmetic.

T. Michael Smith

wwwtmichaelsnith.com