Elon Musk's Bizarre Plan For The US National Debt

Is America really on the brink of bankruptcy? Elon Musk thinks so—and he's taking bold, unconventional steps to address the looming debt crisis. From his $118 million donation to Trump’s campaign to lobbying for the creation of the "Department of Government Efficiency," Musk believes drastic measures are needed. But how realistic is his plan to fix the $36 trillion national debt?

In this video, we break down the numbers behind America’s debt spiral, explore Musk’s controversial ideas, and explain why balancing the budget might be harder than it seems—even for a billionaire disruptor. From mandatory spending and interest on debt to the surprising realities of discretionary spending, this deep dive shows why the U.S. debt problem is a monumental challenge.

[Jakepattison]

We are debt slaves. We are paying debts from borrowing done in our names, without our consent for the most part. But rather than get a bill in the mail, the interest is built into every good and service we buy. We are the embodiment of debt because the cost is paid by the very lifeblood of the consumer, earned over a strictly limited time called a life. We live on a prison planet.

[mydressmemos]

A failing U.S. economy and elevated global tensions reduce the likelihood of prolonged inflation or higher long-term Treasury yields. I've seen folks amass up to $1m amid crisis, and even pull it off easily in a favourable economy. Unequivocally, the bubble/collapse is getting somebody somewhere rich

[saumyacow]

So what's so impossible about reversing tax cuts for billionaires? That's the core of the problem.

[cluberic]

Id argue that there is alot more mandatory spending that is actually discretionary

[AndrewEinolf]

Besides the fact that Musk has been given billions in subsidies for his companies (electric car, rockets, etc) whereas Buffet has never asked for government subsidies I'd listen to him instead. Also, a comparison of home finances to government finances is disingenuous. Households can't print their own money. Why don't all these billionaires contribute to debt reduction instead of looking for government handouts for their industries?

[tomnanD]

The government is not like a for-profit enterprise and can't be run like one. It's also not like your household budget.

[Stan_in_Shelton_WA]

spending 6.16T on a 4.47T "budget", that's a 38% overspending.

[AlexSomers-dn]

In the late 90's Clinton balanced the budget and left office with a budget surplus. Bush JR literally campaigned on "instead of the government taking your money, we will give it back to the people with lower taxes". The late 90s is the only time in my life that I can remember there being a federal budget surplus.

[ivanxyz]

I thought you were going to talk about Elon's plan itself, not about the general improbability of paying down the national debt.

[whiskey_tango_foxtrot__]

This is like saying 1920s Weimar Germany never defaulted in its debts. You are arguing silliness.

[rq]

If the rich, wealthy, and corporations paid at the tax rate as the middle class, we wouldn't be talking about deficits.

[RayPointerChannel]

What qualifications in high finance management does Elon Musk have? Just because he has a lot of money, that does not qualify him as an Economist. He has not qualifications in high finance. He just goes by gut reactions without understanding the complexity of the American government. And considering that he benefits from not paying his fair share of taxes, he is the last person to be in charge of the national financial structure especially since he has a conflict of interest, already having government contracts. It would be interesting if in his spree of eliminating government agencies that he ends up cancelling his own contracts, which may not be that essential to the nation, but essential to him.

[Ironmom-momsolo]

We are bankrupt, we are 36 trillion in debt. If you are in debt and can’t pay it off, you’re bankrupt!

[Jinchuricki]

No one ever talks about increasing revenues. Such a weird thing.

[brandonalan]

Printing is the same as defaulting, mechanically.

[virtuousxvillain]

You are forgetting option C. Increase production!! That is the only way out of this debt spiral.

[persimmontea]

If people like Elon paid a fair share of taxes ....

[stronzer]

when you understand that every single loan is created from money from fresh air you'll realize the swindle we are all living.

[tycooperaow]

People like to blame the government spending. (which it is a huge problem) but it's honestly the lack of revenue too. People needs to realize that you can only cut so much before essential programs starts to take a hit like social security, roads, schools, and local law enforcement. One of the reasons people recall the 1950's & 1960's economy being so prosperous was due to corporate tax rates being over 52% percent. And the wealth inequality wasn't that large and Unions were actually power af so unions could negotiate better pay. Nixon comes along and starts touting trickle down economics which gave Tax cuts to corporations but his policies weren't as bad and relatively reasonable until Ronald Reagan came a long and gave massive tax cuts to corporations which ultimately lead to the 1991 recession which George H.W Bush tried to fix by raising Taxes but then ultimately lost to Bill Clinton (the only president since LBJ to balance the budget).

So if you want to fix the deficit you have to Raise taxes (on the wealthy because the bottom 99% doesn't have much more meaningful wealth) AND cut spending. That's what Bernie sanders was so head strong about until DNC labeled him as a socialist to gut him out infavor of H. Clinton (2016) and Biden (2020).

Trump's tax cuts in 2017 reducing corporate tax cuts from 36% to 21% added $2T to debt and teh covid stimulus spending added another $3T to debt which doubled our M2 supply for the year which by end of his first term amounted to $8T added. Biden so far only added about $5T but $3T of that spending was on infrastructure and on the CHIPS act which boomed American manufacturing.

So it's important to know the real information

[Morgemuffel]

You should take a look on what it happening in Argentina at the moment. The printing press is not the solution for national debt, in fact it behaves like a tax. The US needs to adress this problem and laying of state employees can be a solution to cut spending and stimulate growth instead.