A bipartisan effort to downgrade our country’s future

Imagine being a family sitting on over $260,000 of debt that hasn’t socked away a dime since 2001, regularly spends 27 percent or more than it earns and its members are upset that the credit bureaus have given them a less-than-stellar credit score.

That’s essentially where the United States stands right now, and it needs to get its finances in order before it is too late.

The United States hasn’t balanced a budget since 2001, spends far beyond its means and has an astounding $36.8 trillion in debt and counting. The credit rating agencies have taken note too. “Moody’s Ratings downgraded the U.S. government on Friday, citing large fiscal deficits and rising interest costs,” the Wall Street Journal reported on May 19.

Before this downgrade, the United States enjoyed a AAA credit rating—the best possible score—and now has an AA1 rating with Moody’s. Like personal credit scores, these ratings indicate how likely it is that a country will repay its debt. An AA1 rating isn’t a terrible score, but a lower rating increases the cost of taking out additional debt. However, it is a national embarrassment to lose the coveted AAA rating because of decades of mismanagement, and President Donald Trump apparently took offense to the downgrade.

“The Trump administration and Republicans are focused on fixing [former President Joe] Biden’s mess,” the White House said. “If Moody’s had any credibility, they would not have stayed silent as the fiscal disaster of the past four years unfolded.” I am not sure I agree with this assessment.

After decades of financial malfeasance, Moody’s downgrade shouldn’t have come as a major surprise to anyone. It was probably a long-time coming. “The downgrade from Moody’s means that each of the three major credit rating agencies no longer gives the United States its best rating. Fitch downgraded the United States in 2023, citing fiscal concerns, and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country in 2011,” The New York Times noted.

The prior two downgrades happened under Democratic administrations. So the White House’s complaint that this was some sort of a partisan attack rings hollow, but the downgrade does come at a moment when Republicans are debating Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that has serious financial implications and falls well short of “fixing [former President Joe] Biden’s mess.”

The bill represents much of Trump’s domestic agenda, but also includes the following, according to the White House: “It delivers PERMANENT tax cuts and bigger paychecks. This means an extra $5,000 in Americans’ pockets with a DOUBLE-DIGIT percent DECREASE to their tax bills. Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 will pay around 15% less in taxes.”

“It includes NO TAX ON TIPS and NO TAX ON OVERTIME. This makes good on two of President Trump’s cornerstone campaign promises and benefits hardworking Americans where they need it the most — their paychecks. It provides historic tax relief to Social Security recipients. It slashes taxes on seniors’ Social Security benefits.”

Like most Americans, I am no fan of taxes, but I understand they fund government programs. However, we cannot afford our current programs. So how can Republicans justify tax cuts without even bigger spending cuts? They can’t if they are attempting to be responsible stewards.

The “Big Beautiful Bill” would wreak further havoc on our national finances. “Our preliminary analysis finds the tax provisions included in the May 12 text would increase long-run GDP by 0.6 percent and reduce federal tax revenue by $4.1 trillion from 2025 through 2034 on a conventional basis before added interest costs,” the Tax Foundation found.

“On a dynamic basis, accounting for economic growth, the revenue reduction would fall by 19 percent to $3.3 trillion over 10 years before added interest costs.” That’s a terrible deal and shouldn’t generate excitement from anyone who wants America to thrive in the future.

The Moody’s downgrade should be a stark warning for American policymakers, but it will probably only serve as partisan fodder as Democrats criticize Trump and other Republicans. That’s partially fair, but too few people in both parties have taken the national debt seriously over the past couple decades. Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden each added trillions to the national debt. Simply put, Republicans and Democrats both own this mess.

Just like the metaphorical family with roughly $260,000 in debt, spending problems and bad credit scores, government officials need to make some difficult choices to right the ship. If they don’t, our debt will mount further and credit rating will continue to worsen—making debt far more expensive to repay—and it is already crippling. In 2024, national debt interest repayments cost more than our defense, which is as terrifying as it is disgraceful.