Sen. Rick Scott: How to stop Dems' spending, debt mismanagement from destroying our financial security

For more than half a century, the United States has enjoyed the power of being a global financial superpower and the dollar being held as the world’s reserve currency. But reckless government spending and gross mismanagement of federal debt threatens the eminent financial standing of our republic.

Today, the United States’ federal debt is nearly $29 trillion and barreling closer to $30 trillion every day. With interest rates at historic lows, the U.S. pays almost $350 billion each year in interest on our debt. That’s $350 billion that provides zero return for taxpayers.

Fast forward to 2031. The federal debt has climbed to more than $45 trillion and interest rates have returned to the 50-year average of 6.2%. Under this terrifying but very possible scenario, the annual interest owed on federal debt would grow to $2.8 trillion. This is where things begin to unravel.

If we allow our nation to get anywhere near this point, we will see a full meltdown of American financial security and credit. Unsustainable government spending would fuel a devastating inflation crisis that would crush working families and severely devalue the dollar. America would soon be unable to pay its bills, critical government programs would face brutal cuts or be entirely eliminated and the U.S. would be forced to default on its debt.

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This is what would happen if Democrats got their way by passing a reckless $5.5 trillion tax and spending spree. According to projections in their own bill, U.S. debt would explode to more than $45 trillion over the next 10 years – a nearly unimaginable level of debt that will have catastrophic consequences for the American economy and our families. 

The American people are smart. They will never vote for politicians that will raise their taxes enough to bailout Congress from its decades of reckless spending and dysfunction – and they shouldn’t. 

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So, it must be said, under total Democrat control in Washington, Americans at and nearing retirement beware. The Democrats’ insane debt growth will have disastrous effects on once safe investments, like long-term treasuries. That’s the consequence of Democrat control.

While this crisis was not created overnight, Democrats’ belief in Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has fueled it like never before. Those who subscribe to MMT believe that large governments, like the United States, have no need to adhere to the limitations of borrowing or debt. They think we can simply print more currency to meet the demands of spending. Under MMT, spending has no consequences, inflation isn’t real, and debt doesn’t matter. It’s as insane as it sounds and has no place in American economics or any sane person’s brain.

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Following the command of their de facto party leader, self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Democrats have been shameless in their full embrace of his flawed absurd economic ideology. The cost of this ideology and their spending policies is the death of America credit. This is what will happen if the agenda of systemic socialism being pushed by Bernie Sanders and embraced by President Biden goes into effect. Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be our future. 

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While my Republican colleagues and I have taken a stand against raising the debt ceiling without more measures of fiscal responsibility, Congress must pass substantial reform and commit to a true shift in priorities to avoid the coming death of American credit and secure a strong and stable financial future for our nation. That’s why I am fighting for such commonsense reforms like my Federal Debt Emergency Control Act and the Full Faith and Credit Act that hold Congress accountable and stop the decades of waste that created our current debt crisis.  

These are the types of reforms our country needs to reverse course, rebuild its accountability to the American people and secure a stronger and more certain tomorrow for our children and grandchildren. It can be done. I know because I led similar efforts to restore financial stability to my state when I was Governor of Florida. Over eight years, we paid down a third of the state debt, cut taxes 100 times, slashed 5,000 burdensome regulations and saw Florida business boom creating more than 1.7 million new jobs. The Democrats said the sky was falling. It wasn’t. Our playbook worked in Florida and it will work across the nation.

America is at a pivotal moment. The decisions we make in the coming months will have an enormous impact on the future security and prosperity of our country. We must reject the failed ideas of socialism and MMT by fighting for smart policy that returns the United States to renewed financial strength and global power. We owe no less to the American people and the future of our great nation.

Republican Rick Scott represents Florida in the United States Senate. He is the former Governor of Florida.