comment: >
  
  Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2008 market meltdown and then Trump running the deficit like a credit card ($8T added in 4 years) played huge parts in this.
context: One word. Reagaonomics. The fantastical belief that tax cuts for the rich and tax increase for working people (Reagan cut taxes for rich, raised SS/Medicare taxes) and unfunded military spending was going to "pay for itself".
  US under every president and Congress combo of GOP and Democrat had reduced the debt every year since WWII.   Reaganomics blew it up and 12 years of Reagan/Bush blew it up.
  Clinton raised taxes and we saw balanced budgets (promised by Reaganomnics but never delivered) for the first time in decades.
  SS and Medicare due to Reaganomics tax increase on working people meant that SS and Medicare didn't contribute a dime to US debt over the last 50 years and still have a surplus.
  While unfunded military is FOUR TIMES Russia and China combined is 70% of the budget and running up the debt all the time. >
  
  Reaganomics should be called social murder economics.  
  Give all the money and power to the super wealthy, and they will socially murder the public and working classes with it as they have been doing.
  Just like they genocided the natives and have been locking up minorities and denying housing, healthcare, education, and clean elections to the public.
  Whether debt is good or bad depends on the rates you can borrow and on what you spend it on. 
  Borrowing money to give it all away to the wealthy is triply bad, because not only do they oppress and socially murder the public with it, they also block functional government and necessary investments to maintain and expand their power.
  One reason for wealth taxes, in addition to solving budgetary challenges, is to ensure that the public isn't ruled by tyrannical plutocrats/kleptocrats and fascists by default. >
  
  These wealthy people also destroy the planet and expect society to bear the costs.   
  They spend money to lobby congress and legislatures for loophole bills and expect a different law to apply toward everyone else. 
  The estate taxes were always designed to take care of immediate families,  not a wealth fund for generations. 
  These people are rich, mostly trust fund babies who believe in fascism,  and doing whatever they want, and are not  educated.   They buy influence through propaganda to keep their populace informed.  They oppress society and call that freedom. >
  
  Koch Brothers got to Koch. >
  
  
  Koch Brother~~s~~
  
  FTFY >
  
  
  Koch  Brother
  
  FTFY.  One died >
  
  How the debt was created is exactly how it is being grown now……the only ability republicans have is to cut taxes. They don’t have the ability to cut spending because it would mean reducing the benefits their voters get.  Same today, which is why they’re now trying to starve the government of money forcing the democrats to make cuts, which will never happen…..we may go through some kind of shutdown, but eventually, the republicans in the house will buckle.  Recall that republicans could not cut spending when they were in full control, so there you go. >
  
  
  How the debt was created is exactly how it is being grown now
  
  Indeed, tax cuts for the rich and corporations and massive overspending on military. >
  
  Military overspending is bipartisan though. >
  
  Because every member of congress has some military contractor located in their district or state. The defense budget is essentially a manufacturing jobs bill. Once you understand this, you understand why there is never any pushback on the nearly trillion dollar a year defense spending. >
  
  Our massive military is also a huge economic bargaining chip. Not saying I support the size of the DoD budget but there is a huge global economic part to it. >
  
  1) Tax Cuts
  2) Trickle Down Economics
  3) Iraq
  4) Afghanistan
  5) Runaway Military Spending >
  
  It was caused by three things:
  1) Preventable wars
  2) Preventable recessions
  3) Tax cuts 
  We are ruled by criminals and idiots.