Forget DEI, Democrats Are Desperate to Save Government Spending by Any Means Necessary

John Sexton 1:20 PM | February 04, 2025
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The NY Times published a story last week titled "Even Progressives Now Worry About the Federal Debt." The timing of this story, about 10 days into the new Trump administration, was not coincidental. Have you heard any progressives worrying about the federal debt when Biden was in office? Me either.

Advertisement

...with the debt having tripled as a share of economic output over the past 25 years and interest rates on the 10-year Treasury yield at 4.5 percent, there’s not much “fiscal space” — a nebulous term that basically equates to Washington’s willingness to spend money without courting disaster — in the event of another downturn.

That's downplaying the problem a bit. In fact, we're at a point now where we're paying more for interest on the debt than major expenses like defense.The defense budget in 2024 was about $841 billion.

In 2024, interest costs on the national debt totaled $881 billion — surpassing most other components of the federal budget.

CBO projects that interest costs in 2025 will total $952 billion — an 8 percent increase from the year before, but following increases of 30 and 32 percent in each of the two years before that. This year’s high interest bill is part of a trend that stretches out into the future, as debt continues to climb and relatively high interest rates push up the cost of federal borrowing. Over the next decade, the U.S. government’s interest payments on the national debt are now projected to total $13.8 trillion — the highest dollar amount for interest in any historical 10-year period and nearly double the total spent over the past two decades after adjusting for inflation.

So the next time you hear a progressive say they'd like to see some cuts in defense spending, you might want to point out to them that we're spending more than the entire defense budget on interest payments. Maybe we need to do something about that?

Advertisement

And of course someone is trying to do something about that. President Trump put Elon Musk in charge of DOGE, an effort to cut federal spending down to size in a way that might make it possible to balance the budget for the first time this century. But it's very clear if you've been following the media/Democratic reaction (they are synonymous) to the ending of USAID that Democrats are in a panic. They are deeply committed to the idea that every single agency and spending program is absolutely necessary and should not be tampered with, probably ever. 

In other words, their only solution to the current debt problem is to raise taxes to cover whatever we're currently spending and whatever else they come up with next. The idea of attacking the bureaucracy with a machete is like a horror movie to them. They are desperate to stop what Musk is doing and in this NY Times piece out today you can sort of discern how they plan to stop him.

Empowered by President Trump, Mr. Musk is waging a largely unchecked war against the federal bureaucracy — one that has already had far-reaching consequences.

Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursions into at least half a dozen government agencies have challenged congressional authority and potentially breached civil service protections.

Top officials at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development who objected to the actions of his representatives were swiftly pushed aside. And Mr. Musk’s efforts to shut down U.S.A.I.D., a key source of foreign assistance, have reverberated around the globe.

Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, is sweeping through the federal government as a singular force, creating major upheaval as he looks to put an ideological stamp on the bureaucracy and rid the system of those who he and the president deride as “the deep state.”

The rapid moves by Mr. Musk, who has a multitude of financial interests before the government, have represented an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.

Advertisement

Every paragraph in this story is like a resistance primer laying out a series of talking points, all of which you'll be hearing from elected Democrats soon.

  • No checks and balances.
  • Challenges congressional authority.
  • Bureaucrats shoved out of the way with international repercussions.
  • Ideological billionaire cutting the bureaucracy.
  • Self-dealing?!
  • Not even a real government employee.

The partisan bias is so blatant that I actually wonder if the story was written around the talking points they got from Bernie Sanders (or whoever). I mean, it's the same stuff Chuck Schumer is saying. Someone must have written this down somewhere and circulated it.

It goes on to say, "DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Congress must take action to restore the rule of law." He really hits almost all the same points which doesn't seem like a coincidence.

The usual left-wing response to any proposed cuts to any government spending is to freeze frame some particular, sympathetic victim. Hence, every time conservatives talk about cutting PBS, Dems send out Big Bird. But that's not working this time because, most horrifying of all, Musk seems to have boundless energy for this work and can do it faster than the left can respond.

Advertisement

He also has the advantage of technical facility. He can just sort spending in a database and go down the line from most expensive to least.

There seem to be two basic reactions for those who are now in a panic. One is to take a somewhat rational triage approach. Screw DEI, save the NGOs!

But there's another take which is really just a blind, sputtering rage. There is a lot of that going around too.

Advertisement

It's good that Musk can afford his own security because there are lots of people talking like this. Reddit has been awash in death threats and posts about sending "Luigi" for Musk or his employees.

Advertisement

It goes on and on. Reddit apparently shut down at least one sub site because of the amount of threats.

Anyway, you get the idea. The Democrats spent most of 2024 comparing Trump to Hitler and we had two assassination attempts. Now Democrats are giving Musk the same treatment and once again stirring people up to domestic terrorism (which is what the Luigi shooting was). How long before they get what they want?

Advertisement
Tags: DEMOCRATS DOMESTIC TERRORISM GOVERNMENT SPENDING ELON MUSK LUIGI MANGIONE

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Trending
NJ Gov Backpedals: Illegal? What Illegal?
Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | February 04, 2025
ABC Tries to Smear Elon Musk; It Was Weak Tea
David Strom 12:00 PM | February 04, 2025
Advertisement
Illegals Throwing Anti-ICE Temper Tantrums, Blocking Freeways, Making Friends
Beege Welborn 11:20 AM | February 04, 2025
NEW: FBI to Cough Up Names of J6 Investigators
Ed Morrissey 10:40 AM | February 04, 2025
Advertisement
DOGE May Turn Out to Be Most Important 'Department' in US History
David Strom 10:00 AM | February 04, 2025
DNC Double-Doubles Down in DEI Demonstration
Ed Morrissey 9:00 AM | February 04, 2025
Advertisement