Last Week Tonight: John Oliver: 'The National Debt'

Source:Last Week Tonight- with John Oliver on America's national debt.

"The national debt has long been portrayed as a burden we’re placing on future generations. John Oliver discusses how national debt works, why people are so concerned about it, and why it might be more helpful that you think." 

From The Last Week Tonight 

For anyone who is truly interested in the national debt (which is all of our national budget deficits that are piled on in total) you should first be looking at who you are voting for every two years, first. And if you are not voting at all, you probably couldn't give a damn about the national debt, but if you do vote on a regular basis, look at the people you are electing and reelecting first and then go from there. 

If you are voting for people who truly believe in fiscal responsibility (Democrat or Republican) and you are voting for people who generally vote against deficit spending, simply because it's deficit spending and refuse to vote against legislation in Congress that raises the deficit and debt, then fine, because you are doing your part to keep the debt and deficits down. 

But if you say that you care about the national debt and deficit, but vote for people who could care less about the debt and deficit and only say that they do because they think you are an idiot who would vote for a blind man to land their plane for them (because who needs vision anyway) and then you reelect the asshole that knows you are an asshole for electing them, then whose fault is it for the deficit and debt? How about the person that you see in the mirror everyday? (Just throwing a thought out there) 

To paraphrase the great political satirist George Carlin: we get the politicians that we vote for. If you don't like the politicians that we have and you are voting for them anyway, you are shooting yourself in the foot, while staring at your feet as you are shooting yourself in the feet. 

I'm not a fan of either Republicans or Democrats when it comes to fiscal responsibility, but I dislike Republicans, especially in Congress more on this issue, because at least the Democrats are honest in the sense that they don't care about the national debt and deficit and are fairly honest about it. (As honest as politicians go) But Republicans act like fiscal conservatives, but only when there is a Democratic President, especially a Democratic President with a Democratic Congress. 

But when Republicans are in power, especially with The White House, they spend other people's money like drunken sailors celebrating their last night in the service on New Years Eve who have access to all the free alcohol that they can drink before it kills them. And if you don't believe me, just look at the four years of President Donald Trump where the national debt went up 10 trillion in just four years. Or look at the presidency of George W. Bush where the national debt went up 7 trillion-dollars in his eight years as President. 

Just to respond to what John Oliver what he's saying here: if the national debt and deficit doesn't matter (which is what he seems to be arguing here) then we can scrap the tax code right now, because Uncle Sam no longer needs our money to pay for his government. And we can just borrow all of our money to pay for all of our government. But the good news is that no serious economist actually believes that. 

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