Is this the way to manage your money?

(Thank you to Dave R. and Bob S. for your financial support for what we are building here. Thank you for being paid subscribers. My family appreciates your commitment!)

Members of Congress and past presidents have been financially reckless for the past four decades. That is not hyperbole. That is not opinion. That is a statement of fact.

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

Republicans, Democrats…it doesn’t matter. Every member who approved federal financial policies that added to our country’s collective debt is responsible, regardless of how they try to deflect the blame elsewhere.

U.S. Total Debt by Year

• 1980: $908 billion

• 1990: $3.233 trillion

• 2000: $5,674 trillion

• 2010: $13.562 trillion

• 2020: $26.945 trillion

• 2025: $36.657 trillion

(Source: U.S. Treasury and Peter G. Peterson Foundation)

These days, the escalating debt and the Biden administration are the frequent reasons that Republicans cite for cutting certain areas of federal spending.

The way they are doing it is unlike any that I can remember. President Donald Trump, aided by the work of his largest donor Elon Musk, politically prioritized spending cuts.

Penny Plan

There was no overall federal budget freeze proposal to Congress or across-the-board spending cuts. They didn’t try the “Penny Plan.” Remember that idea?

Flashback: In 2018 U.S. Senator Rand Paul — the Republican from Kentucky and former presidential candidate — and U.S. Representative Mark Sanford — the Republican from South Carolina who once tried to claim that he went for a multi-day trek through the Appalachian Trail (when he was really sneaking off to see his mistress in Brazil) — proposed a plan that would cut one percent (a.k.a. one penny) from each dollar of federal spending each year until the budget balanced.

Spending would equal revenue in about a decade, according to the math involved with the Penny Plan.

It would be tough math for sure since Social Security and Medicare (and other various health programs) make up 45% of the current budget, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Defense is another 13%.

Congress would need to make challenging decisions…very challenging…to adhere to the Penny Plan, since it would mean finding ways to save on those big three commitments and/or making dramatic cuts to other areas, unless they are willing to raise revenues by doing things like raising taxes.

Nevertheless, the Penny Plan has gone nowhere and the debt continues to explode. The Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” adds another three to four trillion dollars, according to various estimates.

Big(ger) Debt

There were other options. Republicans could have chosen smaller cuts for the wealthy and big corporations or even raised taxes (which polls show the majority of Americans support). That could have lessened the cost to taxpayers, even if they kept the tax cuts and tax credits for other income levels.

This wasn’t a binary choice of either extending the tax cuts or letting them expire. There was an option in the middle that would not have added more debt for future generations. They chose not to do that.

Breaking Agreements

Some of the cuts that Republicans have made include canceling agreements that were already underway.

They did it to farmers. Andre Faul, Junior told me that he and and his family had provided meat and produce for their local school district in Kentucky. They were part of a program with the USDA. The Trump administration canceled it after Faul’s family was already raising the meat and growing the produce.

The family was on the hook for several thousand dollars. Residents teamed up for a fundraiser to help the farm family. They raised enough money to cover the expenses so the school could still get the locally-raised food. The farm family didn’t make a profit on the deal but at least did not lose anything.

“Claw Back”

Another part of the federal Republican cuts will impact public television and public radio across the country. These were part of the $9 billion package to “claw back” previously allocated money.

That means that Iowa PBS and Iowa Public Radio will take a hit (full disclosure: I appear on Iowa PBS’ “Iowa Press” and value the contributions that the show makes to civil public discourse).

Some Republicans complained that public media were too politically liberal in their coverage. Instead of holding hearings with key leaders at National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service and questioning them about programs or initiatives that Republicans don’t feel merit taxpayer support, Republicans in Congress — including all of Iowa’s Republican delegation — voted to eliminated all federal funding, including the funding that already had been approved.

Reducing Assistance

Congressional Republicans have also cut some of the taxpayer support for federal food assistance programs and Medicaid. Will their actions only target waste, fraud, and abuse as they claim? Will it prevent the 30-year-old Medicaid recipient that they claim sits in his parents’ basement and plays videogames instead of getting job?

Or will it reduce health coverage for people who are employed but don’t get health insurance by their employer? Will the cuts push more people to food banks so they won’t go hungry at a time when food banks say demand already excedes supply?

Future Impact

We will learn the answers to these questions in the months ahead. Voters gave Republicans control of Washington, D.C…the White House and both chambers of Congress. Voters didn’t want Joe Biden’s hand-picked successor, Kamala Harris, to take over the country this year or to have Democrats lead the U.S. House of Represenatives of the U.S. Senate.

What do voters think of the way that Republicans have governed during Donald Trump’s return to the White House? Cuts to farmers. Medicare. USAID. Instead of having deep discussions on specific policies that the Trump administration believes don’t contribute to the public good, they slashed funding.

While not the norm, was this a necessary act to “clawback” funding because the nation’s debt is going up so much, so quickly? And the overall process also included Republicans’ priorities to extend the previous Trump tax cuts and create new tax incentives that could lessen the burden on families of all incomes, children, and seniors.

Job well done? Or time for a course correction at the ballot box in 2026?

From the fields to Congress?

Why does a farmer from north central Iowa want to serve in Congress? There are few active farmers who get elected to serve in Washington, D.C. I talked to Kyle Larsen about his new campaign, along with why he decided to do this despite having two little girls at home.

I’m always curious why political candidates choose to run for office when they know that it will take them away from their kids. (I realize that other professions can require significant time away as well.)

Larsen said that he had a conversation with his wife that explained why intentionally working to take a job in D.C. could actually benefit his young family.

Watch “Inside Iowa Politics.” (It’s about 6 minutes long.)

Champaign Berry Farm

I also got the chance to talk with Mike and Cathy Pullins from Ohio for the “American Farmland Owner” podcast. They have owned a pick-your-own fruit farm for about three decades.

They had a fascinating story about gooseberries and currants (I knew almost NOTHING about currants). They hope to encourage other people to think about raising berries. (There is also a recipe in there for a black raspberry cobbler that sounds delicious!)

Hello?

Question: what do you do after you answer your phone? Do you say, “hello,” “hi,” “what’s up?” I read a story this week that said that some Gen Z’ers (this is the age group from mid-teens to about the mid-thirties) don’t say any of those things: they don’t say anything at all.

They wait for the person who called to say something first…after all, that person should have something to say since they are the ones who called, right? Or so the thinking goes.

What do you think about this? Hello?