debt Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Biden’s ‘American Jobs’ Plan Could Cost Taxpayers about $666,000 per Job Created

April 12, 2021April 11, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris

President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion American Jobs Plan could end up costing taxpayers more than $666,666 per job created.

The Washington Post gave Biden “two Pinocchios” for saying the American Jobs Plan, his infrastructure and jobs proposal, will create 19 million jobs. Both Biden and his Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have made the 19 million jobs claim. The source of the statement is a Moody’s analysis, which CNN pointed out had estimated the U.S. economy would add about “16.3 million jobs over the same period if the infrastructure proposal does not get passed.”

Commentary: China Needs to Pay Its Debts to Us

January 10, 2021January 9, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

These decisive words from Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech will shape American political discourse for decades to come:

Commentary: Debt Is the Most Predictable Crisis in U.S. History

December 27, 2020December 27, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson issued a stern warning in last week’s Wall Street Journal: “A world-class financial system can’t exist in a country that fails to maintain the quality of its credit.”

America’s debt problem was already wildly out of control for the past 20 years, but we now face truly unprecedented additional levels of debt issued by Congress in response to the pandemic. From 2000 to 2019, the federal debt rose from $5.6 trillion to $22.7 trillion, and it is expected to top $27 trillion by year’s end, a whopping 19 percent increase this year. Another trillion in virus relief spending now seems to be at the low end of spending estimates going into 2021.

Majority of Voters Believe U.S. Debt Will Pave the Way for China to Become Global Financial Leader

December 26, 2020December 25, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Amajority of voters believe that the United States’s increasingly growing federal debt will hinder the county’s prospects in the future and position China as the next global financial center, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

Report: Consumers on Track for Record Year of Debt Repayment Before Coronavirus Hit

June 10, 2020June 9, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

U.S. consumers were on track for a record year of debt repayment before the coronavirus shutdown, according to a new 2020 Credit Card Debt Study published by the personal-finance website WalletHub.

Consumers entered 2020 owing more than $1 trillion in credit card debt after a $76.7 billion net increase during 2019. By the end of March, however, they posted the largest first-quarter credit card debt paydown – $60 billion – since at least 1986.

Pew Report: Expect Increase in Debt Collection Lawsuits, Debt Collectors Seizing Stimulus Checks

May 24, 2020May 23, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

A new report published by Pew Charitable Trusts suggests that with the increase of debt collection lawsuits, “debt collectors may seize $1,200 coronavirus checks intended for household expenses.”

Before the coronavirus restrictions began, American household debt had already increased by $1.5 trillion between 2008 and 2019. As debt increased, so also did an aggressive approach made by creditors and third-party firms to use state civil courts to pursue collections through debt claims, Pew says.

Analysis: Federal Fiscal Shortfall Surges Past $100 Trillion

March 21, 2020May 21, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. Treasury has published a major report revealing that the federal government has amassed $103.7 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations.

Reports: Consumers Still Carrying Debt From Last Holiday Season, Expected to Spend $1.1 Trillion This Holiday Season

November 17, 2019November 16, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

About 35 million Americans still have holiday credit card debt leftover from last year, according to WalletHub’s 2019 Holiday Shopping Survey.

Commentary: Deficits Are Secondary to What You’re Paying For

September 3, 2019September 2, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

“I am not worried about the deficit,” Ronald Reagan famously said. “It is big enough to take care of itself.”

If you pay attention to the libertarian purists, President Reagan earns mixed reviews on his economic policies. After all, in 1983, the federal budget deficit exceeded 6 percent of GDP. But Reagan was untroubled by federal budget deficits for at least two reasons, and in both cases he has been vindicated by history.

Commentary: Each American Is $240,000 in Debt Because of Excessive Government Spending

August 17, 2019August 16, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

As Americans, we are greatly indebted not only to the men and women who have fought and died for our country, but also to the thinkers, statesmen, innovators, and ordinary people who gave us our founding principles.

Ohio Bill Allowing Students to Transfer Credits Unanimously Passes in the State House

July 15, 2019July 14, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Todd DeFeo A bill aimed at allowing students to transfer general education course credits from one public university in Ohio to another could bring with it potentially higher costs for schools, according to a fiscal analysis of the bill. The state House unanimously passed House Bill 9, which…

Federal Report Says Millennials Are Poorer Than Other Generations

December 16, 2018December 15, 2018 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Ryan McMaken One of the challenges in looking at income and wealth data is getting a sense of how different demographic groups are affected. It’s relatively easy to find median income and wealth data over time for the entire population, for example. But then problems of interpretation immediately…

Deceptive Tricks Congress Uses to Drive Spending Higher

September 24, 2018September 23, 2018 Admin

by Justin Bogie Congress is up to its old tricks again, trying to pass another massive spending bill that uses gimmicks and tricks to push deficit spending even higher. And it thinks it can hoodwink President Donald Trump into signing it. Next week, the House is expected to vote on…

Student Debt in the United States Tops $1.4 Trillion

August 16, 2018August 15, 2018 Admin

by Andrew Kerr Students continue to struggle mightily to repay their student debt amid a booming economy, according to a report released Tuesday by the New York Fed. Outstanding student loan debt stood at $1.41 trillion at the end of June, making it the second largest category of household…

Commentary: Trump, Reagan, and Big Government

July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 Admin

by Jeffery Rendall As I strolled through the excellent and memory-provoking exhibits at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (in Simi Valley, CA) the other day I was struck by how similar President Donald Trump’s approach to today’s politics is to the way Ronald Reagan handled the subject a half…

Commentary: The Ticking Fiscal Time Bomb Set in 1937 Could Tip America Into Despotism by 2030

July 13, 2018July 12, 2018 Admin

by Robert Osburn Celebrated this past July 4, America’s founding story of freedom is truly remarkable: unity, courage, integrity, and national integration (incorporating people from around the world). In most other places, the freedom story is bloody, exclusive, and, ultimately, tyrannical. Take Nicaragua, for one example: In 1979, the Sandinistas…

Metro Nashville Faces Reality of Heavy Borrowing in $34 Million Revenue Shortfall

June 16, 2018June 15, 2018 Jason M. Reynolds

Surprise! Nashville is growing skyscrapers and other developments at an ever-increasing rate yet faces a $34 million revenue shortfall. Councilman-at-large John Cooper, who is on Metro’s Budget and Finance Committee says Nashville’s revenue continues to grow faster than most cities, to the tune of a couple billion dollars, NewsChannel 5…