Just Facts Daily

National Debt Burden

Who bears the burden of the U.S. national debt?

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Although the principle and interest on the national debt are paid with money from taxpayers, almost all people bear the burden of the national debt. This is because it commonly manifests in lower wages, weak economic growth, inflation, and combinations of such results. These economic mechanisms are not always obvious to voters, which allows politicians to blame others for problems that they caused with government deficit spending. Contrary to the media, the primary driver of the national debt is not tax cuts or national defense. In reality, the share of the U.S. economy collected in taxes has been roughly level or risen for as far back as data extends, and national defense has fallen from 53% of federal spending in 1960 to 17% in 2024. Instead, the main driver of the national debt is social programs, which have grown from 21% of federal spending in 1960 to 60% in 2024.

DocumentationNational Debt Consequences National Debt Drivers

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Preventing School Shootings

Invoking the “horrific school shooting in Oregon,” NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill (D) claims that “children” are being “shot and killed in their classrooms” because Republicans won’t “act.”

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IN FACT, the Oregon school shooting was ended by a civilian with a concealed carry permit that Sherrill opposes, and Democrats reject a fact-based measure to protect students that Republicans support. Here are the specifics:

On Thursday, a 16-year-old boy used his mother’s pump-action shotgun to murder 3 children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon.
The shooting ended when a students’ father with a concealed carry permit used his gun to kill the perpetrator.
Democrats who unilaterally control states like New Jersey and New York made it illegal for the bulk of people to carry a gun in most public places by refusing to issue carry permits to anyone unless the government deemed they needed one.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (6–3) in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol v. Bruen that the above-cited restrictions prevent “law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms,” while emphasizing, “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”
Sherrill called that ruling “dangerous and extreme,” and all of the Supreme Court justices appointed by Democrats dissented.
President Trump and 74% of Republicans support allowing selected and well-trained teachers to carry guns to protect schools, versus 27% of Democrats.
Contrary to the Washington Post and the New York Times Editorial Board, criminology research has shown that arming teachers would deter potential killers from attempting such shootings.
Contrary to PolitiFact and the NJ Star-Ledger Editorial Board, sufficient levels of armed security are an effective means of protecting students and are utilized in other places where people gather en masse.
Contrary to NBC News and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, people with recreational handgun experience shoot as accurately as police, and law-abiding civilians save far more lives with guns than are killed by criminals or lost in accidents.
Contrary to people platformed by CNN and The Guardian, the cost of equipping, properly training, and supervising enough armed teachers to protect every school in the nation would be 1% of current government spending on K–12 schools.
Contrary to Sherrill, who is a proponent of gun “safe storage measures,” the State of Oregon has guns storage laws that are stricter than a bill she sponsored in 2025.

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