“The U.S. government’s debt is on track to rise to $34 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

But if raw numbers don’t tell you much about whether a given level of debt is burdensome or not, then consider this: the real test of debt sustainability is how much of the nation’s resources go to service that debt every year — and there the news is utterly gloomy.

The U.S. government is on track to face debt service costs that, starting in 2026, will be a modern record as a share of the economy — and they are forecast to rise from there, driving out or severely hampering other national priorities. So, why then are we sending these billions to…

• a conflict in Ukraine that is lost;
• a conflict in Gaza that is a genocide;
• an island near China that is at this moment as well-equipped as it will ever be to take on China?

None of this spending makes any sense at all except to feed the defense complex and satiate domestic politics.”