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You work. You get paid. Washington takes its cut. But have you ever stopped to ask one simple question: Where does the money actually go?
Forget trillion-dollar numbers for a minute. Most Americans can’t comprehend the difference between $1 trillion and $7 trillion anyway. Let’s shrink Washington down to something we all understand: a $100 bill.
In fiscal year 2025, the federal government spent roughly $7 trillion. Social Security alone consumed about $1.6 trillion. Major federal health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, were another enormous piece. Defense approached $900 billion.
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And then there’s the number that should make every taxpayer spit out their morning coffee: interest.
Congressional overspending is only part of the budget problem. (Douglas Rissing)
The federal government spent about $970 billion just on net interest on the national debt. Not roads. Not teachers. Not soldiers. Not Social Security checks.
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Interest.
That means roughly $14 out of every $100 Washington spent went toward interest on money we’ve already borrowed.
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Think about your own household budget. Imagine earning $100 and immediately throwing $14 in the fireplace because of credit-card balances you accumulated years ago.
You’d probably say you have a spending problem. Washington calls it a budget.
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So where did the rest go?
Roughly speaking, out of every $100 the federal government spent in 2025, about $23 went to Social Security, approximately $26 went toward major health programs, around $13 went toward national defense, and about $14 serviced the interest on our debt. The remaining dollars funded everything from veterans’ benefits and income-security programs to transportation, education, federal agencies and thousands of other government programs.
You can argue all day about which of those programs are worthwhile. But here’s the part Washington doesn’t put on your receipt.
We didn’t have the $100.
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Federal revenues were only about $5.2 trillion while spending approached $7 trillion. The result was another roughly $1.8 trillion deficit in fiscal 2025. In other words, for every $100 Washington spent, it collected only about $74 and borrowed roughly $26 to make up the difference.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., addresses the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol after winning the speakership on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Try that financial plan at your house. Earn $74. Spend $100. Put the other $26 on the credit card. Then do it again next year. And the year after that.
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Eventually, your banker is going to have a conversation with you that nobody in Congress seems interested in having.
This isn’t a Republican problem or a Democratic problem. It’s an American math problem.
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Politicians love telling you about the benefits they’re going to protect, the programs they’re going to create and the taxes somebody else is supposedly going to pay. Nobody likes telling you the truth.
We have promised ourselves a government we aren’t currently willing to pay for. And taxpayers should demand something that every restaurant, grocery store and hardware store already gives us.
Think about your own household budget. Imagine earning $100 and immediately throwing $14 in the fireplace because of credit-card balances you accumulated years ago. You’d probably say you have a spending problem. Washington calls it a budget.
A receipt.
Every year, Americans should be able to see exactly how Washington spent every $100 it collected and how much additional money it borrowed in our name.
Because here’s the number that scares me most.
The Congressional Budget Office says net interest costs are projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 and could reach about $2.1 trillion annually by 2036 under current law.
That’s not a rounding error.
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That’s money future taxpayers will send to Washington before Congress buys them a single bridge, missile or Medicare benefit. Americans argue constantly about whether our taxes are too high or too low. Maybe we’re asking the wrong question.
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Before Washington asks Americans for another dollar, taxpayers should be asking: What did you do with the last $100?
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