EDITORIAL: Trump military funding vow ignores looming debt disaster

Feb. 02--President Donald Trump's promise to "fully fund" the U.S. military won cheers from Republicans during his State of the Union speech Tuesday, and likely on U.S. military bases in San Diego County and around the world as well. But among the seeming relative handful of Americans who worry that our nation is on track for a spectacular debt meltdown, the president's remark amounted to a reminder of our national leaders' indifference to the mass societal pain that awaits unless the federal government stops chronically spending much more money than it takes in.

Trump's target is the most fiscally constructive step that Congress and the White House have taken in recent years: the 2011 Budget Control Act, which was negotiated with the goal of cutting the federal deficit by capping discretionary spending. While Social Security, Medicare and some other programs are exempt, automatic cuts are triggered when spending caps are passed -- unless Congress agrees to a higher cap for a specific agency, with a 60-vote threshold for passage in the Senate.

The assumption among many who supported the budget act was that the pain forced by automatic "sequester" cuts to programs that Democrats liked and to programs that Republicans liked would finally lead to a grand bargain that would leave federal finances in a much healthier place. The most obvious bargain was Republicans agreeing to tax hikes and Democrats agreeing to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits.

But instead of this happening, there's been no move toward a grand bargain at all. Instead, in recent years, Democrats have become a more populist party that rejects entitlement reductions as just another way to fund tax cuts for the rich -- and Republicans have reinforced Democrats' suspicions by passing a massive tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthy.

Meanwhile, the military has been the most prominent part of the government hurt by sequestration. These cuts have forced the Pentagon to make dangerous decisions, such as reducing aviators' training, with sometimes tragic results. That's where any argument against automatic cuts should start.

In the big picture, though, the debt crisis is the far more serious problem. Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall's 2015 warning that the U.S. was on track for a "death spiral" unless the federal government changes its ways crystallized the threat. As the population ages, the cost of Medicare and Social Security will keep increasing. Especially if interest rates return to normal levels, the cost of servicing the national debt will keep growing, causing even higher annual budget deficits, which would slow growth, which would further balloon deficits, which would further hurt growth, in an ever-grimmer cycle that could end miserably with a government unable to keep promises to retirees, unable to defend the nation and unable to provide essential services.

Once Latin America's richest nation,Venezuela is now in such a death spiral, with food and medicine shortages, street anarchy and 4,000 percent inflation. Could such a fate await the world's largest economy? Absolutely not -- if U.S. leaders decide to end the federal government's addiction to debt.

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