{"id":2513732,"date":"2025-11-23T10:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-those-dark-clouds-are-the-national-debt-its-not-looking-good\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T10:22:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T15:22:38","slug":"op-ed-those-dark-clouds-are-the-national-debt-its-not-looking-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-those-dark-clouds-are-the-national-debt-its-not-looking-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Those Dark Clouds Are the National Debt &#8211; It&#8217;s Not Looking Good"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fop-ed-those-dark-clouds-are-the-national-debt-its-not-looking-good%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2513732&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article, authored by Douglas Carswell, President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, highlights the promising economic progress Mississippi has experienced in recent years, including notable growth, increased investment, and improving workforce participation. The state is also aiming to phase out income tax to benefit families financially. Expanding the view to the national level, the article notes that the U.S.economy has historically outperformed expectations as the late 1990s. However, the escalating U.S. national debt, now at $38 trillion and having doubled in the past decade, poses a serious concern. The article explains the immense scale of a trillion and discusses how government spending on wars, bailouts, COVID relief, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-refuses-to-guarantee-that-taxpayer-money-in-stimulus-bill-wont-go-toward-abortions\/\" title=\"Psaki Refuses To Guarantee That Taxpayer Money In Stimulus Bill Won\u2019t Go Toward Abortions\">entitlement programs<\/a> has contributed to this debt, leading to higher costs in servicing this debt than on defense. Drawing parallels with past great powers that declined due to debt burdens, the author warns that unless the debt is controlled, America&#8217;s global standing is at risk. efforts like the proposed Department of Government efficiency (DOGE) to cut spending have not substantially reduced the deficit. The author suggests that the U.S. must either rein in debt growth or boost GDP growth-potentially through AI and robotics-to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio. Carswell underscores controlling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-in-2019-we-should-surge-to-the-border-people-seeking-asylum\/\" title=\"Biden in 2019: We should \u2018surge to the border\u2019 people seeking asylum\">mass immigration<\/a> and the federal deficit as critical priorities for securing a prosperous future for states like Mississippi and the country overall.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The future for Mississippi looks bright.<\/p>\n<p>In just the past five years, Mississippi has seen more economic growth than in the entire 15 years before that combined.<strong><br \/> <\/strong><br \/>  We&rsquo;re on track to phase out the state income tax entirely, allowing families to keep more of what they earn.<\/p>\n<p>Mississippi has attracted a surge of new investment, and for the first time in years, our workforce participation rate is finally heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>Zoom out, and the picture gets even better. Contrary to the endless gloom from the pundits, the American economy has consistently outperformed expectations for decades. Since the late 1990s, the U.S. has delivered strong, steady growth that few forecasters saw coming.<\/p>\n<p>But there is one dark cloud on all our horizons that we cannot forever ignore: the U.S. national debt.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>As of today, the U.S. national debt stands at $38 trillion (with a capital T).<\/p>\n<p>To grasp how enormous a single trillion really is, try this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One million seconds ago was just last week.<\/li>\n<li>One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onebillionseconds.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">billion seconds ago<\/a> was early 1994, when Clinton was president and the internet was dial-up.<\/li>\n<li>One trillion seconds ago was roughly 30,000 BC, deep in the Stone Age, when humans were still chasing mammoths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now here&rsquo;s the gut-punch: That $38 trillion mountain of debt has roughly doubled in just the past 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>Costly foreign wars, mega bailouts, COVID giveaways, and all those federal entitlement programs President Lyndon B. Johnson said would &ldquo;end poverty,&rdquo; eventually added up.<\/p>\n<p>Incidentally, living standards for America&rsquo;s poorest citizens are light-years higher than when those programs launched in the 1960s &mdash; indoor plumbing, air conditioning, smartphones, modern medicine &mdash; but the number of people dependent on government assistance is larger than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than pay for all that using tax receipts, the U.S. government has borrowed, issuing IOUs. Today, we spend more money servicing all those IOUs than we do on defense.<\/p>\n<p>As my fellow Brit, the historian Niall Ferguson, likes to point out, any great power that spends more on debt servicing than on defense risks ceasing to be a great power. That was true of the Romans and the British, the Habsburgs and the Dutch.<\/p>\n<p>What must America do to avoid a similar fate?<\/p>\n<p>When President Donald Trump was first elected, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy launched the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with an ambitious target: to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >reduce annual federal spending<\/a> by $2 trillion.<\/p>\n<p>Because mandatory entitlement programs &mdash; Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid &mdash; remained largely untouched, DOGE hasn&rsquo;t come close to achieving that yet. The federal deficit has barely budged.<\/p>\n<p>Where, one might ask, are all those Tea Party types who railed against federal overspending 10 years ago as the debt-to-GDP ratio went from 90 percent in 2010 to 125 percent today?<\/p>\n<p>If the U.S. cannot rein in the growth of the debt, the only other way to avoid going the way of the Romans is to try to make the GDP part of the equation rise faster.&nbsp; In other words, to try to grow our way out of the debt.<\/p>\n<p>In order to stabilize debt-to-GDP at the current 125 percent of GDP, America will need to achieve real GDP growth of about 4 to 5 percent for the next 10 to 20 years. With the advent of AI and robotics, as Elon Musk has suggested, it could be done.<\/p>\n<p>Put another way, without an artificial intelligence \/ robotics-induced growth surge, U.S. debt will hit 150 to 170 percent of GDP by 2050. Mamdani-economics would then become the least of our worries, as inflation and tax rises became inevitable, whoever held office.<\/p>\n<p>The older I get, the more I think that there are two fundamental things that the federal government needs to get under control: mass immigration and the deficit.<\/p>\n<p>Do that, and states like Mississippi have a bright future. Don&rsquo;t, and all the good that we might do will only matter at the margins.<\/p>\n<p><em>Douglas Carswell is the President and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact <a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><i><b>The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either d or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/submitop-ed\/\">here<\/a>.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mississippi&#8217;s future appears promising. Over the last five years, the state has experienced more economic growth than in the previous 15 years combined. Plans are underway to completely eliminate the state income tax, enabling families to retain a larger share of their earnings. Additionally, Mississippi has drawn significant new investments recently<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2513733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Op-Ed-National-Debt.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[9168,43698,15322],"class_list":["post-2513732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-economy","tag-national-debt","tag-op-ed"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Op-Ed-National-Debt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2513732"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2513736,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2513732\/revisions\/2513736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2513733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2513732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2513732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2513732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}