In October 2022 the National Debt topped the $31 Trillion mark. Just one year later in September 2023 the Debt rose to $33 trillion, then three months later by the end of December 2023 it reached $34 trillion.
Let's put this into some perspective: It took Uncle Sam 232 years to accumulate its first $10 trillion of Debt, then just 9 years to reach $20 trillion, then another 5 years to top $30 trillion. The National Debt is accelerating at an unprecedented rate now increasing a trillion dollars every one hundred days.
One of the biggest problems is the Debt is growing faster than our country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The ratio of escalating Debt to GDP has never been this high in our country’s history. During World War 2 the ratio was 42% in 1941 and had risen to 106% by 1946. The ratio of U.S. Federal Debt to GDP in 1960 was 53.12%, in 1980 34.53%, in 2000 58.73%; currently 123.48%.
A recent study by Penn Wharton Budget Model, When Does the Federal Debt Reach Unsustainable Levels? published October 6, 2023, estimates that "the U.S. Debt held by the public cannot exceed 200% of GDP, even under today's favorable market conditions. Under the current policy, the United States has about 20 years for corrective action after which no amount of future tax increases or spending cuts could avoid the government defaulting on its debt."
In addition, the recent rise in interest costs to service the $34+ Trillion in National Debt has increased to the point that interest on the National Debt, currently the 4th largest Mandatory Spending item in the Federal Budget - behind Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security and Defense, will surpass Defense spending mid 2024.
Current trajectory of the increasing Debt costs will within 10 years will become the largest 'program' in the federal budget surpassing Medicare and Social Security.
Medicare is projected to become insolvent in 2028, Social Security in 2034...or sooner.