By Joe Penland via Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity | November 18, 2025
The Tip of the Iceberg
The recent government shutdown inflicted a great deal of hardship nationally.
Federal workers — including military personnel, air traffic controllers, and law enforcement officers — went unpaid.
Millions of Americans relying on SNAP benefits faced the prospect of not having food, and small businesses that depend on federal contracts struggled with economic losses.
Yet, as disruptive as the shutdown was, it was the tip of the iceberg when compared to the long-term fiscal crisis looming over the United States.
We have a national debt exceeding $38 trillion and a Social Security Trust Fund on track to be depleted in the 2032-2033 timeframe.
The shutdown, although painful, was temporary.
A debt crisis would be long-lasting and could trigger a global depression far worse than the Great Depression that began in 1929, and didn’t begin to end until 1941.
According to economists, the shutdown costs the U.S. economy up to $16 billion per week.
It can only be hoped that many of these effects will be reversed now that workers are receiving back pay and economic activity begins to rebound.
Unlike the shutdown, the national debt threat continues to worsen.
In 2024, interest payments on the debt surpassed the entire defense budget.
They have already approached almost $1 trillion annually, consuming more federal resources than any discretionary budget item.
This is not a temporary disruption ‒ it’s a structural threat.
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Joe from Texas is a family man with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who has had tremendous success and lived the American Dream. His beliefs are both straightforward and deeply held.
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