Commentary
As the national debt crossed $33,000,000,000,000 (that’s $33 trillion, if you get confused by so many zeros), and the nation’s debt increased to a $250,000 per taxpayer, five hard-line deficit hawks in the House Freedom Caucus drew a bold line in the sand on Sept. 19 and again on Sept. 21 against fellow Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership. The five sided with Democrats to oppose a vote to proceed with a vote to fund the Pentagon, which they largely support. But before supporting that vote, the hard-liners demand that Mr. McCarthy commit to bringing discretionary spending down to pre-pandemic levels of $1.47 trillion without “gimmicks.”
