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Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 4th, 2024
FromDaily News Brief
ratings:
Length:
12 minutes
Released:
Jan 4, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 4th, 2024.
Pub Membership Plug:
Public Houses, or Pubs, are not just places to drink beer, wine, cider or even something a little stronger. It is also a unique social centre, very often the focus of community life in villages, towns and cities throughout the length and breadth of the world. We here at CrossPolitic hope to emulate that for you and yours. That’s why you should grab yourself a pub membership at fightlaughfeast.com… we need you on this ride with us. So pull up a chair, grab a pint, and join us on this ride at fightlaughfeast.com - that’s fightlaughfeast.com.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-national-debt-tops-34t-first-time-history
US national debt tops $34T for first time in history
The U.S. national debt topped $34 trillion for the first time ever, crossing a critical milestone at a time when government spending is already under scrutiny.
The national debt – which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — hit $34 trillion as of Friday afternoon, according to new data published by the Treasury Department. By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.
"We are beginning a new year, but our national debt remains on the same damaging and unsustainable path," said Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for fiscal sustainability.
The historic debt level comes as Congress races to finalize critical funding bills in order to prevent a government shutdown.
The national debt is expected to nearly double in size over the next three decades, according to the latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office. At the end of 2022, the national debt grew to about 97% of gross domestic product.
Under current law, that figure is expected to skyrocket to 181% at the end of 2053 – a debt burden that will far exceed any previous level.
"Though our level of debt is dangerous for both our economy and for national security, America just cannot stop borrowing," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The White House was quick to blame Republicans on Tuesday evening for the astronomical rise in the federal debt.
"This is the trickle-down debt — driven overwhelmingly by repeated Republican giveaways skewed to big corporations and the wealthy," Michael Kikukawa, White House assistant press secretary, said in a statement provided to FOX Business.
Even more worrisome is that the spike in interest rates over the past year and a half has made the cost of servicing the national debt more expensive.
That is because as interest rates rise, the federal government's borrowing costs on its debt will also increase. In fact, interest payments on the national debt are projected to be the fastest-growing part of the federal budget over the next three decades, according to the CRFB.
Payments are expected to triple from nearly $475 billion in fiscal year 2022 to a stunning $1.4 trillion in 2032. By 2053, the interest payments are projected to surge to $5.4 trillion.
To put that into perspective, that will be more than the U.S. spends on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all other mandatory and discretionary spending programs.
https://mynorthwest.com/3944857/rantz-homeless-fecal-matter-behind-explosion-shigella-cases-portland/
Homeless fecal matter behind explosion of Shigella cases in Portland
Homeless people are spreading Shigella in and around downtown Portland, Oregon. Cases are now surging and could lead to a public health emergency.
Shigella is a highly contagious bacteria that spreads through fecal matter. It’s usually spread when the bacteria is on someone’s hand and then they touch their mouth, or through sex. The Portland metro saw at least 218 cases of shigellosis in 2023, with 45 cases in December alone. Many of them occurred in Old Town.
As cases rise, Multnomah County Deputy Hea
Pub Membership Plug:
Public Houses, or Pubs, are not just places to drink beer, wine, cider or even something a little stronger. It is also a unique social centre, very often the focus of community life in villages, towns and cities throughout the length and breadth of the world. We here at CrossPolitic hope to emulate that for you and yours. That’s why you should grab yourself a pub membership at fightlaughfeast.com… we need you on this ride with us. So pull up a chair, grab a pint, and join us on this ride at fightlaughfeast.com - that’s fightlaughfeast.com.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-national-debt-tops-34t-first-time-history
US national debt tops $34T for first time in history
The U.S. national debt topped $34 trillion for the first time ever, crossing a critical milestone at a time when government spending is already under scrutiny.
The national debt – which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors — hit $34 trillion as of Friday afternoon, according to new data published by the Treasury Department. By comparison, just four decades ago, the national debt hovered around $907 billion.
"We are beginning a new year, but our national debt remains on the same damaging and unsustainable path," said Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which advocates for fiscal sustainability.
The historic debt level comes as Congress races to finalize critical funding bills in order to prevent a government shutdown.
The national debt is expected to nearly double in size over the next three decades, according to the latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office. At the end of 2022, the national debt grew to about 97% of gross domestic product.
Under current law, that figure is expected to skyrocket to 181% at the end of 2053 – a debt burden that will far exceed any previous level.
"Though our level of debt is dangerous for both our economy and for national security, America just cannot stop borrowing," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The White House was quick to blame Republicans on Tuesday evening for the astronomical rise in the federal debt.
"This is the trickle-down debt — driven overwhelmingly by repeated Republican giveaways skewed to big corporations and the wealthy," Michael Kikukawa, White House assistant press secretary, said in a statement provided to FOX Business.
Even more worrisome is that the spike in interest rates over the past year and a half has made the cost of servicing the national debt more expensive.
That is because as interest rates rise, the federal government's borrowing costs on its debt will also increase. In fact, interest payments on the national debt are projected to be the fastest-growing part of the federal budget over the next three decades, according to the CRFB.
Payments are expected to triple from nearly $475 billion in fiscal year 2022 to a stunning $1.4 trillion in 2032. By 2053, the interest payments are projected to surge to $5.4 trillion.
To put that into perspective, that will be more than the U.S. spends on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and all other mandatory and discretionary spending programs.
https://mynorthwest.com/3944857/rantz-homeless-fecal-matter-behind-explosion-shigella-cases-portland/
Homeless fecal matter behind explosion of Shigella cases in Portland
Homeless people are spreading Shigella in and around downtown Portland, Oregon. Cases are now surging and could lead to a public health emergency.
Shigella is a highly contagious bacteria that spreads through fecal matter. It’s usually spread when the bacteria is on someone’s hand and then they touch their mouth, or through sex. The Portland metro saw at least 218 cases of shigellosis in 2023, with 45 cases in December alone. Many of them occurred in Old Town.
As cases rise, Multnomah County Deputy Hea
Released:
Jan 4, 2024
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Daily News Brief for Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022 by Daily News Brief