Here is the condensed version of a diary I wrote yesterday and, looking at it later, realized:
“this is too long”
Republicans are borrowing 1.5 Trillion dollars. This is money they do not have.
1.5 Trillion is a big number. It is a 1, followed by a 5, followed by 11 zeros. Here it is:
$1,500,000,000,000.00
Since about 1980 (Reagan), the national debt has gone from not-so-much, to what it is today, which is more than 20 Trillion dollars. This is a 2, followed by 13 zeros. Here it is:
$20,000,000,000,000.00
Now the Republicans want to add another 1.5 Trillion, so that they can cut taxes for people and corporations. This is money we do not have, so we will have to borrow it (Republicans used to be worried about borrowing money we don’t have). For every dollar Republicans borrow, here is who gets what:
67 cents — Corporations get 67% of every dollar that is borrowed. This is even though they:
a. don’t need the money, which is why the stock market is doing great
b. a lot of them aren’t even based in the US anymore
c. are about 1/3 owned by non-Americans
d. are mostly owned by wealthy people
20 cents — individual Americans, there are about 325,000,000 of us (give or take) currently alive. So actual living human Americans get 20% of the benefit of the money Republicans are borrowing. Amusingly, actual living human Americans are going to be the ones paying interest on this debt.
11 cents — Individual former Americans who were unbelievably wealthy, but who are now dead, will be getting 11% of the benefit of the money Republicans are borrowing. They obviously will not be paying any of this back. Oh, and by the way, there are only about 5,000 of these dead, unbelievably wealthy human former Americans, per year.
So, when Republicans talk about who the tax plan is going to help, just look at the numbers. See my other diary for a longer version of this, but it really, really sucks.
Borrowing money is not always bad. If you borrow money to buy something that will help you make money in the future (for example, a college education), it is actually good. But this? This is like borrowing money to buy cocaine.