Bipartisan worry grows over national debt, which now totals $85,210 per person

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"We will be in a boatload of trouble when we see interest rate spikes," Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips says, referring to the interest costs on the national debt

Nicholas Ballasy

April 2, 2021

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is warning that the national debt –– now estimated to total $85,210 per person –– poses an imminent threat, especially if interest rates spike.

The U.S. government has spent around $6 trillion during the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to regular government appropriations. The $6 trillion figure does not count the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Biden signed a few weeks ago. The deficit set a record in FY2020 at $3.13 trillion. And the national debt has hit a record $28 trillion.

Maine Independent Sen. Angus King, a member of the Senate Budget Committee who caucuses with the Democrats, said that "we've got a problem" as a country with the rising deficit and national debt, particularly around the interest on the debt.

(Snip)

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips shared King's concerns about the billions of dollars, per day, that the U.S. is spending on the debt's interest costs alone.

"I read recently that John D. Rockefeller, in his era, could have paid off the entire United States federal debt with his wealth. Turn up the clock now to 2021, America's wealthiest man, Jeff Bezos, with about $180 billion in net worth, he could pay six months of our debt service; think about that," he said. "We will be in a boatload of trouble when we see interest rate spikes."

Phillips warned that "once foreign investors decide the United States of America is no longer the safest place to deploy their capital, all bets are off, no policy, no legislation, no monetary or fiscal endeavor, will correct that."

(Snip)

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The Only Question Is, How Will It Stop.