The crises for Biden

President Biden faces two extraordinary crises. One is the covid pandemic, and the other is the federal debt accumulated in response to the pandemic. The debt may prove to be worse than the pandemic, because failure to pay the government’s debts could lead to closure of government services and millions of jobs lost.

Looking back at the 2020 fiscal year, President Trump and his party saw a record-setting $3.1 trillion deficit, thanks in part to the covid crisis. Before Biden was elected, Congress started working to lower the deficit to $2.3 trillion, and the Congressional Budget Office has predicted the deficit will trend below $2 trillion by 2022. Unfortunately for the budget, Democrats have chosen to throw money at the pandemic by giving away money in stimulus checks and are now trying to pass a $2 trillion infrastructure bill. The only way to pay for all of this is to raise taxes on corporations and rich folks.

But Biden and his Democrats may not be able to institute tax increases large enough and long enough to pay the government’s debts. Republicans may sweep Congress in 2022 and shoot down all the tax increases initiated by Democrats. The U.S. may actually experience periods of fiscal default, millions of government employees and contractors could be out of work, and essential government operations, even for the military, could be shut down indefinitely. GENE MASON

Jacksonville