Posted on May 20, 2023
Veterans could be among the first to feel the pain of a debt default
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https://www.npr.org/2023/05/19/ [login to see] /veterans-debt-ceiling-default
For Navy veteran Jesse Reynolds, it's personal.
Veterans funding is currently a key part of two high-stakes showdowns in Washington: budget talks and the possible default on America's debt. If the U.S. defaults, as soon as June 1, the Department of Veterans Affairs could be short of cash. And that means Jesse Reynolds could be broke on the first of the month.
"Money is pretty tight these days," he said by phone, driving from Utah to Arizona with his two dogs in the truck he calls home.
"This last year-and-a-half has just been trying to find myself again, trying to just keep myself alive, and get back into the world," he said.
Reynolds served 14 years in the Navy, until a head injury cut short his time with a SEAL team. He's been taking online classes and living in the pop-up camper on the back of his pickup. His only income is the monthly disability check from the VA.
For Navy veteran Jesse Reynolds, it's personal.
Veterans funding is currently a key part of two high-stakes showdowns in Washington: budget talks and the possible default on America's debt. If the U.S. defaults, as soon as June 1, the Department of Veterans Affairs could be short of cash. And that means Jesse Reynolds could be broke on the first of the month.
"Money is pretty tight these days," he said by phone, driving from Utah to Arizona with his two dogs in the truck he calls home.
"This last year-and-a-half has just been trying to find myself again, trying to just keep myself alive, and get back into the world," he said.
Reynolds served 14 years in the Navy, until a head injury cut short his time with a SEAL team. He's been taking online classes and living in the pop-up camper on the back of his pickup. His only income is the monthly disability check from the VA.
Veterans could be among the first to feel the pain of a debt default
Posted from npr.orgPosted in these groups: 
Economics
Economics
Posted 12 mo ago
Responses: 4
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Not passing a debt increase will hurt a lot of folks. My wife and I are both retired and all our income is from the Federal Government; Military retirement, VA disability, CRSC, Social Security for me and my wife draws OMB retirement and Social Security.
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Trump raised the deficit every single year he was president.
SERIES:
A CLOSER LOOK
Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years
The “King of Debt” promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president.
ProPublica Jan. 14, 2021, 5 a.m. EST
The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office. That’s nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loans, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt other than mortgages, combined, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country.
The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.
The National Debt Increased Under Trump Despite His Promise to Reduce It
SOURCE : https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump/amp
2.) US Debt by President: By Dollar and Percentage
Who increased the U.S. debt the most? That depends on how you measure it.
Donald Trump
At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase, largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession.
In his FY 2021 budget, Trump's budget included a $966 billion deficit.14 However, the national debt actually grew by $1.5 trillion between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.
* FY 2021: $1.5 trillion
* FY 2020: $4.2 trillion
* FY 2019: $1.2 trillion
* FY 2018: $1.3 trillion
(1) Term for Trump
Barack Obama
President Obama added about $8.6 trillion, about a 74% increase, to the national debt at the end of President Bush’s last budget in 2009.
* FY 2017: $671 billion
* FY 2016: $1.42 trillion
* FY 2015: $326 billion
* FY 2014: $1.09 trillion
* FY 2013: $672 billion
* FY 2012: $1.28 trillion
* FY 2011: $1.23 trillion
* FY 2010: $1.65 trillion
* FY 2009: $253 billion (Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act, which spent $253 billion)15
(2) Terms Obama
SOURCE : https://www.thebalancemoney.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296
3.) Feb 12, 2018
Trump’s Budget Reveals that He Wants Everyday Americans to Pay for His Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
The president's budget pays for his tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by slashing health care, education, and other critical investments.
SOURCE : https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-budget-reveals-wants-everyday-americans-pay-tax-cuts-wealthy/
SERIES:
A CLOSER LOOK
Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That It’ll Weigh Down the Economy for Years
The “King of Debt” promised to reduce the national debt — then his tax cuts made it surge. Add in the pandemic, and he oversaw the third-biggest deficit increase of any president.
ProPublica Jan. 14, 2021, 5 a.m. EST
The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office. That’s nearly twice as much as what Americans owe on student loans, car loans, credit cards and every other type of debt other than mortgages, combined, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It amounts to about $23,500 in new federal debt for every person in the country.
The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.
The National Debt Increased Under Trump Despite His Promise to Reduce It
SOURCE : https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump/amp
2.) US Debt by President: By Dollar and Percentage
Who increased the U.S. debt the most? That depends on how you measure it.
Donald Trump
At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase, largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession.
In his FY 2021 budget, Trump's budget included a $966 billion deficit.14 However, the national debt actually grew by $1.5 trillion between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.
* FY 2021: $1.5 trillion
* FY 2020: $4.2 trillion
* FY 2019: $1.2 trillion
* FY 2018: $1.3 trillion
(1) Term for Trump
Barack Obama
President Obama added about $8.6 trillion, about a 74% increase, to the national debt at the end of President Bush’s last budget in 2009.
* FY 2017: $671 billion
* FY 2016: $1.42 trillion
* FY 2015: $326 billion
* FY 2014: $1.09 trillion
* FY 2013: $672 billion
* FY 2012: $1.28 trillion
* FY 2011: $1.23 trillion
* FY 2010: $1.65 trillion
* FY 2009: $253 billion (Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act, which spent $253 billion)15
(2) Terms Obama
SOURCE : https://www.thebalancemoney.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296
3.) Feb 12, 2018
Trump’s Budget Reveals that He Wants Everyday Americans to Pay for His Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
The president's budget pays for his tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by slashing health care, education, and other critical investments.
SOURCE : https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-budget-reveals-wants-everyday-americans-pay-tax-cuts-wealthy/
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""With no regard for the impact of their words, they continue to speak lies about how House Republicans are cutting veterans benefits, and it's false," Bost said recently.
But this week House Republicans put out a bill that keeps veterans funding level, but moves about $15 billion from a massive new program to help veterans suffering from toxic exposures and makes it discretionary funding.
Allison Jaslow with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said that means it can be cut when it comes up for renewal annually.
"Veterans have gotten a lot of lip service. We've been told that through negotiations that veterans funding isn't on the table. The problem is we haven't gotten those guarantees in writing at this point," said Jaslow.
Which leaves vets like Jesse Reynolds still worried as he drives his truck to his next camping spot for the night.
"We're kind of expendable I guess. It is terrifying to know that I could be struggling more than I already am really soon," he said."
...""With no regard for the impact of their words, they continue to speak lies about how House Republicans are cutting veterans benefits, and it's false," Bost said recently.
But this week House Republicans put out a bill that keeps veterans funding level, but moves about $15 billion from a massive new program to help veterans suffering from toxic exposures and makes it discretionary funding.
Allison Jaslow with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said that means it can be cut when it comes up for renewal annually.
"Veterans have gotten a lot of lip service. We've been told that through negotiations that veterans funding isn't on the table. The problem is we haven't gotten those guarantees in writing at this point," said Jaslow.
Which leaves vets like Jesse Reynolds still worried as he drives his truck to his next camping spot for the night.
"We're kind of expendable I guess. It is terrifying to know that I could be struggling more than I already am really soon," he said."
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