• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Blog Home
  • Topics
    • Keystone Press Releases
    • Politics and Government
    • Legislation
    • Nevada News
    • Tourism & Gaming
    • Rural Nevada
    • Business
    • Opinion
  • Membership
  • Contact Us
  • About Keystone Nevada

Keystone Nevada Korner

Welcome to The Keystone Korner The Official Blog of Keystone Nevada

Home » Nancy Pelosi’s Other Legacy: A Mountain of Debt for Our Children

Nancy Pelosi’s Other Legacy: A Mountain of Debt for Our Children

January 22, 2023 by Pauline Lee

Despite a surging national debt, the spending orgy continues in Washington.

Sunday, January 15, 2023, FEE

by John Miltimore, FEE Stories

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially stepped away from leadership last week after two decades directing the political agenda of House Democrats.

There’s no denying the historic nature of the California lawmaker’s tenure, whose leadership began in 2002 when she became the first woman elected House minority whip. She’d go on to take up the gavel of House speaker twice (from 2007–2011 and 2019–2023), making her the only female House speaker in history and one of a few to serve nonconsecutive terms.

As far as political careers go, Pelosi’s has been a clear success. Yet as journalists write hagiographic portraits of her career, one aspect of Pelosi’s legacy has received little attention: the massive federal debt accumulated since she ascended to leadership in Washington.

When Pelosi became minority leader in 2003, the national debt stood at $6.2 trillion. When she turned over the speaker’s gavel, the national debt stood at $31.5 trillion. In other words, about 80 percent of the debt accumulated in all of U.S. history was accrued since Pelosi ascended to a leadership position in Congress.

This does not mean, of course, that Pelosi is solely responsible for the debt crisis facing the United States. The list of those who deserve blame is long, and it includes members of both major political parties.

Democrats appear content to pass the bills on to future generations.

That said, it’s difficult to find a single politician in either party who bears more responsibility than Pelosi. For years, she talked a tough game about pay-as-you-go rules in the House, ostensibly designed to prevent new deficit spending, yet the U.S. government racked up an unprecedented amount of deficit spending on her watch.

The process was aided by Pelosi’s refusal to allow floor amendments and by her embrace of massive omnibus bills that congressional members were not given time to review.

“No other Speaker, President, or Senate Majority Leader, can even come close to her indubitable record of deficit spending,” Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie contends.

Many progressives will deny this, of course. They’ll shrug off the anti-democratic process. They’ll argue that passing Obamacare was a moral imperative and blame the debt on the government’s 20-year excursion in Afghanistan (a war Pelosi voted for). They’ll decry Republican tax cuts “for the rich.”

This two-step is to be expected. Meanwhile, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio has reached 122 percent, higher than the maximum sustainable level, according to International Monetary Fund economists.

Despite the daunting figures (and historic inflation), the spending orgy continues in Washington.

On top of the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill recently passed, many are pushing to “cancel” student-loan debts, a policy Pelosi supports (though she threw a wrench in the works by admitting that the president lacks the authority to pass it unilaterally). Medicare for All and universal pre-k education remain high-priority targets.

That Democrats have no serious plan to pay for any of this doesn’t seem to bother them. They appear content to pass the bills on to future generations. This is not socialism in the traditional sense, but it calls to mind French economist Frédéric Bastiat’s quip that “the state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.”

Though Americans might not see the costs of these policies, they do exist. The government currently spends $400 billion per year just to finance the interest on its debt. Those costs are expected to reach $1.2 trillion annually by 2032.

“Within 10 years the federal government will spend more on interest costs than it has historically spent on R&D, infrastructure, and education combined,” researchers at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation concluded.

Americans were warned about this.

George Washington warned at length about the destructive nature of debt, and he was joined by Ben Franklin, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson, the latter of whom called public debt “the greatest of the dangers to be feared.”

Fortunately for Pelosi, the problem is no longer hers. She’s riding off into the sunset a very rich woman.

We don’t know how future historians will view the former speaker’s tenure, but it’s safe to say that the founders would have viewed her legacy as a disaster.

This article originally appeared on The American Spectator.

Filed Under: Opinion

Primary Sidebar

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Bootleg Bistro
Bootleg Bistro Ad
SLLC_Keystone_Blog-Ad_300x500_10%-Off-Repairs_05.19.21
CIOServices Ad 300x500-100
BRH Keystone Ad JPEG
Willow_Manor
Keystone Corporation Nevada

News Topics

  • Keystone Press Releases
  • Politics and Government
  • Legislation
  • Nevada News
  • Tourism & Gaming
  • Rural Nevada
  • Business
  • Opinion

Rural Nevada

As Nevada farmers retire, few taking their place as number of farms continues to shrink

November 13, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Amy Alonzo, The Nevada Independent, November 13th, 2023 For more than 50 years, Rick and B. Ann Lattin operated Lattin Farms in Fallon, a … [Read More...] about As Nevada farmers retire, few taking their place as number of farms continues to shrink

Winnemucca braces for massive lithium mine

September 18, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Ray Hagar, Nevada Newsmakers, September 18, 2023 Winnemucca, a town of more than 8,600 residents off Interstate 80 in Northern Nevada, is proud … [Read More...] about Winnemucca braces for massive lithium mine

Weather may have slowed January sales

April 8, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By The Record Courier Staff, April 4, 2023 For the third month in a row, Douglas County merchants reported a decrease in taxable sales, though not … [Read More...] about Weather may have slowed January sales

30 new projects in Pahrump: Arby’s, Chipotle, Midas Muffler, 3 convenient stores & more

March 29, 2023 By Courtney Holland

By Robin Hebrock, Pahrump Valley Times, March 28, 2023 Business is booming in the Pahrump Valley, with dozens of new companies looking to bring … [Read More...] about 30 new projects in Pahrump: Arby’s, Chipotle, Midas Muffler, 3 convenient stores & more

Opinion

EDITORIAL: Absentee ballot fraud concerns lead to new election

November 27, 2023 By Keystone Admin

By the Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial Board, November 24, 2023 Reality is catching up to those who downplay the possibility of absentee and … [Read More...] about EDITORIAL: Absentee ballot fraud concerns lead to new election

OPINION: Be thankful we’re a little different in Nevada

November 27, 2023 By Keystone Admin

By Michael Schaus, The Nevada Independent, November 26th, 2023 Nevada is a state that’s difficult to explain to outsiders.  For many, our … [Read More...] about OPINION: Be thankful we’re a little different in Nevada

EDITORIAL: Red states, blue states — a tale of migration

November 27, 2023 By Keystone Admin

Tax rates matter. By the Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial Board, November 20, 2023 U.S. migration patterns speak volumes about progressive … [Read More...] about EDITORIAL: Red states, blue states — a tale of migration

Tags

Adam Laxalt Biden Administration Business Business Columns Casinos & Gaming Catherine Cortez Masto Clark County Clark County School District Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) economy Editorials Education Elon Musk Gov. Joe Lombardo Gov. Steve Sisolak Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) Housing inflation Joe Lombardo las vegas Local Local Las Vegas Local Nevada mc-business mc-local mc-news mc-opinion Nevada Nevada Legislature News North Las Vegas NPRI Opinion Opinion Columns PAID Politics and Government Roe v. Wade school choice Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto small businesses Sports Tesla tourism unemployment rate Victor Joecks

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Keystone Corporation - All Rights Reserved · Log in
Privacy Policy
By accessing this site, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use

The views, opinions and conclusions expressed by the authors of any article or post on the Keystone Korner are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Keystone Corporation or its officers and board members. Moreover, any reference to a person, party, product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Keystone Corporation or its officers and board members.