July 12, 2025
A Strange, Unsettling Time
By J. Robert Smith
The celebrations didn’t last long. President Trump kicked off the festivities at the Iowa State Fair grounds. He was in Iowa to ballyhoo passage of the One, Big Beautiful Bill. The crowd -- as always at Trump rallies -- was enthusiastic. The mammoth measure is the centerpiece of Trump’s second administration. It unlocks the door to a huge boost to the economy and provides a torrent of new monies for tougher border enforcement and mass deportations, among other considerations. Promises made, promises kept.
Rand Paul and congressional bean counters, though, were grumpy about the measure’s costs. Paul still is. He’s scoring the legislation’s particulars statically. Trump is scoring the tax cuts dynamically. Trump is right. Revenues will pour in. The trouble, as the Kentucky senator should know, is always about spending.
Uncle Sam runs annual deficits and has amassed a $37 trillion debt because members of Congress and presidents keep spending like, well, they’re buying votes. We really need a constitutional amendment not just balancing the federal budget but limiting spending as a percentage of GDP (except in times of war and national emergencies).
more
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/07/a_strange_unsettling_time.html
