The Debt Limit Explained

Blog: Don't Read The News cgpgrey.substack.com/p/why-tv...
* • Footnote *: But What A...
† • Footnote †: Who REALLY...
Special thanks to Neil H. Buchanan (www.dorfonlaw.org/) and Kyle McMahon ( / kamcma )
Music by: www.davidreesmusic.com

[@XBuilderBob]

I love KZbin recommending old CGP videos for me to watch that just happen to be very relevant to current political shenanigans

[@Keylevitation]

Thanks KZbin algo

[@algorhythmthealgorhythm]

i know right how cool

[@abd-animation-22]

Shenanigans begins Shenanigans

[@Kyle_Schaff]

So raising the debt ceiling is like hitting the snooze button on your alarm, got it

[@davidndiulor8428]

Then how does the US ever get out of debt if it keeps raising the debt limit?

[@Kyle_Schaff]

It just doesn't wake up lol. As the old saying goes, "You snooze, you win"

[@Kyle_Schaff]

***** I think that applies to everyone but America

[@hellome6796]

It is like hitting the snooze button on a bomb

[@ragnaroksora8129]

I sometimes wonder if Obama would have been a great president without Congress lol

[@Jack209]

Oh and one thing not mentioned. As soon as the debt limit gets raised, Congress usually passes a massive spending bill (for example, the infrastructure bill) that instantly brings us 75% of the way to the new debt limit they set.

[@SubtleHawk]

Infrastructure Bill is based though.

[@wolverinero79]

This year they did it in the same breath.

[@khalilrahme5227]

@@wolverinero79 what bill did they pass this year ?

[@cringeginge7663]

@@SubtleHawk its based until you realize how little of the money is going towards infrastructure

[@dedinside5507]

This makes sense considering congress has the hilariously low approval rating of 9%

[@pop5678eye]

Congress overall has a low approval rating. The problem is that because of the partisan winner-takes-all way of electing representatives to Congress people always blame OTHER members at fault never their OWN representative whom they keep electing over and over...

[@kingplunger6033]

@@pop5678eye well, the winner takes it all voting is complete garbage anyway

[@Pyxlean]

All legislatures around the world have an approval rating lower than 50%

[@Shenaldrac]

Not gonna lie, at first I thought the president was a potted plant before I realized that was a podium.

[@iananderson12796]

Can't be unseen

[@jackconryan]

Hahahahhhahahahahahhaha

[@andrewblevins9899]

That's a lectern.

[@ShidaiTaino]

This comment made my day

[@fleecemanjenkins6648]

He has the powers of a potted plant, politically.

[@Xenro66]

Basically, the US needs to take out a small loan of a trillion dollars.

[@simonjude6594]

More like 19 trillion...

[@sharkboyv]

More like 25 😂

[@10tmoore]

And add it to the small loans of 19.3 trillion they already have

[@edi0157]

True. That is the REAL reason they need Trump!😂

[@ranch2786]

+Edi Ababei I doubt Trump could fix congresses mess at this point 😂

[@fingerboxes]

Fun fact: the Supreme Court building is the only federal building project that actually returned money to the treasury from the budget it was given. A market crash happened between the time the budget was approved and the time the building was completed, driving the cost of building materials and labor down, which led to it being completed significantly under-budget.

[@LightShoro]

Nice to know !

[@watermelonhelmet6854]

The more I learn about politics, the more it always boils down to: A group of people came up with a bunch of well meaning, common sense laws. People then bent, twisted and loopholed those laws until they were barely recognisable mockeries of what they were originally intended to be. Now they make zero sense, make everything more difficult and long-winded...but everyone still has to follow them because it's the law.

[@sjs9698]

'A group of people came up with a bunch of well meaning, common sense laws.' that's almost never how it starts. it generally starts with a few people (or just one) coming up with a way to control a shitload of people for fun & profit, then goes sharply downhill from there. there are a few cases i can think of where someone actually did put together a 'well-meaning' law but it's super-rare. yes, i'm sure i sound like a libertarian, & hence totally worth ignoring. but i am not one of those - honest. i'm a commie.

[@paulbarbat1926]

@@sjs9698 I mean "thou shalt not steal" is a common sense law, which got twisted by mechanics like inherintance, and money bred money, and merit disappeared. Signed : another left radical

[@Hypogean7]

@@sjs9698 Commies where even worse with that!

[@cantthinkofaname5046]

​@@Hypogean7 No, the worst part is, aside from the Soviet Union; the commies are actually pretty effective when not toppled and replaced with dictators by the CIA.

[@anonymouscausewhynot]

@@sjs9698 1.communists are worse. 2. America is a *fantastic* example of what the original commenter said.

[@SolaceAndBane]

It's like Congress is using the President as a scapegoat when people get mad.

[@bobbobson5595]

SolaceAndBane That's probably half the reason the position exists

[@Aspenisms]

@@bobbobson5595 the other half to never help any actual issues

[@daniel4647]

The role of a president is pretty accurately explained in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. “The President in particular is very much a figurehead - he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it. On those criteria Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the most successful Presidents the Galaxy has ever had - he has already spent two of his ten presidential years in prison for fraud.”

[@boijone8440]

REALLY?!?! wow, i never thought of it like that

[@camelofsiberia962]

@@daniel4647 Dude you just explained trumps presidentship

[@sierralobo7163]

If con is the opposite of pro, congress is the opposite of progress.

[@hawkince2130]

Sierra Lobo lmao!!

[@ThomasGodart]

Very well said! Lol ;-)

[@crashencastles1502]

Exactly!

[@SturFriedBrains]

+Ral Crux Anarchy really doesn't exist is the problem. To have a consistent definition of of government, one which is simple, but nuanced enough to not be full of holes, one must define government as "the dominant force over an area of land". So if tomorrow the US government disappeared & all other levels of government were just gone, would there be no government? No, there would be MANY, MANY governments which would solely be defined by how many people organized with each other, how imperialist those forces were, how many guns & skill with said guns was in an area of organization, how much land they claimed & if said land was in contention. Technically if I owned land out in bumblefuck no where miles away from everyone & I was the only force which claimed it, I would be its sole government by definition.

[@Ral9284]

_"Anarchy really doesn't exist is the problem."_ A. Jodorowsky. *Authority* is a lie that people chooses to believe. *Power* is nothing more than blind and servile obedience towards an authority figure. In fact, is the government what doesn't exist. Every man born in slavery is born for slavery, but every man born free and took into slavery can tell the difference, SturFriedBrains. The government is an abstract object, it doesn't exist in reality. It is only a fictional fabrication of the mind, just like gods and any other mythological being. On contrast, Anarchy is a goal for an individual to achieve for, just like eating your next meal is a goal on itself. But do not confuse the Government with the people, that gave itself fictional authority and power through the fictional figure of the Government. They are the actors taking advantage from those who believe in the Government. For example the people from the Clergy, whom take advantage of people that believes in god existence. _"[Government is] the dominant force over an area of land"_ I understand that there is a primitive drive towards being subdued under an alpha male, but that is no justification to force others into submission just 'cause the more are comfortable with being slaves. If I took into account only force, and the effects derived from it, then what force gives can be taken away by the same. If force gives any right to anyone, then a bigger force can make it invalid. Force is a physical power, and I fail to see what moral effect it can have. And as soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate. Liberty results from the nature of self-preservation. The first law is to provide for self-preservation, one first cares are those which one owes to oneself; and one is the sole judge of the proper means of preserving oneself, and consequently becomes one's own master. The only government viable is the self-governing. If so then freedom is the consequence of self-responsibility, and to subdue to be governed voluntary by someone else is irresponsible in principle. It's no different than wearing shackles and freely choosing to become a slave.

[@popoffs5273]

I love how this video resurfaces everytime the debt limit gets hit

[@Concord003]

Me too! I just love it!

[@sonicmaster047]

Would be hilarious for a president to say all this on camera and show the population that he's not at fault and watch congress make a mad scramble to make up a bunch of stuff to try and get out of it XD

[@blizzard1198]

They're fire him and chances are that they would kill him

[@anna-flora999]

@@blizzard1198 or they'd blame each other. Like, reps blame all on dems regardless of who's actually in charge

[@armandbier2502]

@@blizzard1198 Congress is not going to kill the president for revealing information that a person in the United Kingdom can look up on his leasure. Also a president is "impeached" not fired, as congress is not the boss of the president, but a different branch of the government.

[@gofriskyourself-truepacife6025]

@@armandbier2502 Congress can remove a president from office.

[@armandbier2502]

@@gofriskyourself-truepacife6025 do you not know what impeachment means?

[@chizzicle]

Sometimes I wonder how the U.S has managed to survive this long considering how nonsensical their governing seems to be

[@sean8521]

+Chizz We simply just put so much into our army and stuff that noone can or will fuck with us.

[@0bserver00]

+Chizz Because why would you afraid of crumbling economy when you have the biggest guns?

[@CaptainTimo]

yea sure ... continue to feel good about yourself ...

[@chizzicle]

Oh I'm planning to. USA is great at reminding me it could be worse even when my country fails at stuff Though to be fair, it's not like USA is the worst country in the world, it's just that some things they do make absolutely no sense so it's fun to make fun of those things. And people generally seem to agree Finland is better place to live that the U.S so I can at least be a bit smug about it, right?

[@bcat010]

the US isn't as bad off as a lot of people like to think it is. The economics that are involved with nations are way more complicated than what people think.

[@kauhanen44]

"We are going to die and only I can stop it. Now give money or I wont save us!"

[@iamthinking2252_]

But we're all going to die

[@stephanedubedat5538]

iamthinking bullshit !

[@theepicone100]

No. I refuse.

[@agungpriambodo1674]

Other than Congress, that's every hedonists point of view

[@jasonenns5076]

So... Delaying the inevitable.

[@thrakerzad5874]

Just keep spending til the interest each month is more than the entire gdp.

[@ethanhaynes7406]

@ExtraGoose Animations I mean... it's because it's recent and got a couple likes

[@ohnoitisnt]

Yep and then watch as 100% of your countries tax revenues need to go into interest payments. Nah just print more money right... and lower interest rates to keep your repayments down

[@aoneill324]

Then just declare bankruptcy, take the 10 year morale penalty and hey presto free money 💰

[@albertjordan3249]

@@aoneill324 Someone's been playing too much EUIV

[@bladefox-ik5iy]

@romancase that’s the joke

[@neonicplays]

TIL: American politics is about “winning agaisnt the other side” and not about “providing a good country for thr citizens it’s meant to serve” got it

[@joshuabradley6727]

precisely

[@dinamosflams]

How else would you explain their health system or the educational system, or the unneployment regardless of their massive dept (also the Wars)?

[@neonicplays]

Vinícius de A Batista exactly

[@ReedHarston]

That is just politics everywhere. Politics ≠ Government. People in government tend to like the power they get from their office and turn to politics to keep that power.

[@georgy2596]

And THIS is why Canada is better

[@aten747official]

So the president gets yelled at for spending what congress tells them to spend.... reminds me of an episode of spongebob....

[@radioactivebitflip8873]

The one where Mr.Krabs forces spongebob to Buy a bunch of cool stuff so he could get it up with Ms.Puff? It would be funny if Obama ends up using colorful language on the congress in the end, just like the show.

[@aten747official]

yes Gordon Freeman the Lombax of Space and Hedgehogs and THE TRUE HIGH KING OF SKYRIM AND PANDAS

[@thomashiggins6471]

Gordon Freeman the Lombax of Space and Hedgehogs and THE TRUE HIGH KING OF SKYRIM AND PANDAS ... I have nothing to add to this conversation, I just wanted to say that username

[@emaginationproductions]

But Congress, we're not talking about This or This, we're talking about THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!

[@agungpriambodo1674]

Best analogy ever

[@bobnub8194]

There was actually a petition to build a death star, which was obviously rejected.

[@TheStargateNerd]

Citation needed.

[@joaozin156]

petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/secure-resources-and-funding-and-begin-construction-death-star-2016

[@alexgerasimov1344]

That's funny. I love how they still got the cost wrong though.

[@morganjones4281]

We're going to build a Death Star and we're going to make The Martians pay for it!

[@MGSLurmey]

@@joaozin156 Citation no longer valid. New citation needed.

[@lumi8725]

SPONGEBOB UR SPENDING ALL ME MONEY!! BUT MR KRABS U TOLD ME TO DO IT :(

[@ok-se9jf]

:(

[@dianejeanespiritu]

WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS: Δ OR THIS: O WE'RE TALKIING ABOUT THIS : Ѩ

[@aapjew18]

Shocked, *shocked*!

[@vothaison]

Well not that shocked.

[@agungpriambodo1674]

how could you

[@yusurkassem4174]

That reminded of Phoebe from Friends😂

[@Henri_Ikari]

TL;DR: The President is a figurehead for everybody to blame while Congress gets away scot-free.

[@mikeblain9973]

HAHA! Are you familiar with the satirical comedy of Douglas Adams? In Hitchhikers he has the president of the galaxy being chosen as the most inappropriate outrageous character, just so everyone is distracted from whats really going on behind the scenes.

[@rphb5870]

Well Congress is the opposite of Progress

[@armadiyoo]

CGP grey always finds his way back into the algorithm

[@GameMaker3_5]

8 years later and it's still just as relevent as if it was uploaded yesterday. and i'll bet it ends the same way that the video notes...

[@iamthinking2252_]

except that technically, the congress is controlled by the same party that holds the presidency... which makes this even more bizarre

[@grim9899]

& nearly 10 years later when I hear about it on the news , is when this pops up on my feed

[@diekssus7194]

It's a beautifull reunion every time.

[@OrchidAlloy]

This sounds... Fucking awful.

[@mammon310]

And now find the video on the Federal Reserve and you'll see the "why". Rich stealing from the poor.

[@genstian]

@Led Zed In a way we do. But the Federal Reserve QE programs and record low interst force us too. There are two groups of rich people, those who benefit, mainly Wall Street, and those that don't, mainly bond, currency traders and regular people.

[@ravbseime8008]

It it

[@mammon310]

Stian Andreassen Right on the money, I always tell people that I hate certain rich people, I've met them, I interned at Goldman Sachs and it was a HUGE reality check, these people don't care about ANYTHING, they would destroy the world if it meant they could make a dollar, they need to be eradicated. Like killed, more specifically, I hate to say it but we have no choice, the only way to fix this reverse the fear they instill on us on a daily basis with the media and show them that if they are going to fuck us over, they will be hunted down and killed, like the animals they are.

[@TheGamer1402]

Wow you guys seem to really suck...

[@confusedcaveman6611]

Imagine being able to pay with a credit card that your kids have to pay off. But instead of paying it off, they pay the bill and the interest with another credit card that *their* kids have to pay off And so on and so forth. That could never possibly create a bubble. Right? What could go wrong?

[@johnc646]

The reason we’re in that situation is that the very large and very in accessible federal government is the one collecting all the taxes. The right way to do this is for all taxes to be levied by the municipal government, with the state appealing to municipalities for funding, and feds appealing to states. This way the very people taxing you live down the street within gunshot range if they dare take more than their fair share.

[@nwj03a]

@John C That would never work for a ton of reasons. Why would a small farming community agree to send their municipal taxes (doesn’t matter if it’s a penny) up to fund NASA? Or even the county to run the county school board (they all home school)? Or the state to run highway patrol (they don’t have a highway)? Or the federal government to fix a bridge three states away? They wouldn’t. Just like an affluent neighborhood in California would have zero interest in funding a library in Montana. You going to go pay for some guy in towns fridge to get fixed? Even if you’ve never met him? Even if you have the money? People do not fund things that don’t directly effect their lives, at least not nearly enough for a country to work.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

This would make sense only in a world where the parent could also just create money out of thin air to pay that bill anytime it wanted. Congress could approve the minting of a 1 trillion coin that it then uses to pay off all its debt, but they don't. National debt doesn't really work the same as household debt for exactly that reason.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

@@johnc646 This was the way the government was run prior to the writing of the constitution, and spoiler alert, it was so dysfunctional that we called a constitutional convention in order to write up a solution.

[@daveSoupy]

Grey your old content will never not be relevant. It’s amazing how evergreen your original content continues to be

[@kcottone]

What a fucked up way to run a government.

[@TrueCRaysball]

And that is why Congress is hated so much.

[@KTChamberlain]

Thank God the U.S. didn't take out a loan with the Iron Bank of Braavos, because if it did and couldn't pay back the loan the Iron Bank would fund our enemies to get it back one way or another.

[@cyrus5958]

Haha In reality counties really just juggle interest expensive dept with cheap dept to pay off the interest expensive dept

[@user-rr9ng9bo9l]

...oh wait

[@puffmapper2076]

I feel like the debt limit is one of those things that totally messes stuff up but we can't get rid of it without making an even bigger mess.

[@nightwi5h959]

I love how this popped back up on the reccomended list...can't possibly work out why...

[@skyrimmiryks]

I turned the volume down on my phone thinking the bomb would explode...

[@brandess13]

Nick Baker stoner

[@rodionmarienko9599]

Oh it will....Eventually....Maybe.....)

[@jddes]

Every few years this video becomes relevant again...

[@IamNoisyroblot101]

1:04 creeper in the upper left

[@MrCooldude4172]

how tf

[@justAguyDs]

that's Bigfoot bro

[@iamthinking2252_]

For a while I thought it was the Mars robot scene

[@DaltonHBrown]

good eye.

[@addoslebacon7970]

It's at 1:05

[@vizthex]

So the President is just kinda........there and does not much.

[@hexx2211]

Vizthex The president gets all the recognition and all of the blame. He basically just puts a face on the government while everyone else works behind him and tells him what to do and say. That's why when people start complaining about government decisions, the president will more often say "we" instead of "I". His whole job is really based on what everyone else is doing.

[@vizthex]

Hexx Which means he doesn't rly do much on his own :D

[@hexx2211]

Vizthex​ It's impossible for him to. Imagine the horror of having the whole country led by one man. I mean, we've had some crooked officials, but we've also had some terrible presidents, too. Like in this upcoming election. Whoever wins, despite our candidates being horrible in their own ways, the other branches can keep them in check, so they can't actually do all that they say they will. It will just be other people working in the background and the president will have to face it that they made promises they couldn't fulfill.

[@vizthex]

Hexx Why do you even care....I'm a random guy on the Internet....

[@hexx2211]

Vizthex I don't know, but same here.

[@scottruesch7783]

I've learned much more just watching a few of your videos than I've learned in about 9-10 years of formal education in the US. That should be done sort of indicator that the government (or just Congress, but seeing as to how the president can veto the budget, he's still partially liable) has their spending priorities completely out of whack.

[@xanderpearson731]

It’s actually the states that have to pay for education.

[@stewdippin]

I wonder why this video was recommended to me in January 2023 🤔

[@mohammadfarhat422]

Wow, this was in my recommended page.......I see what youtube is doing

[@SM-fz3et]

Oh look it's that time again.

[@Concord003]

This video was posted 10 years ago, and now it's relevant again!

[@boink666]

Why do I learn more from your videos then from school? Congress should spend more on education. No joke.

[@jackdaniels4975]

Spend?! EDUCATION?! FUCK NO let's make more missiles for those brown people with all that oil to choke on! Hell, we're not even spending money on those missiles, what money would we spend on it hah!

[@ultimadei7102]

Liked for political accuracy.

[@pjorgensen2]

About $10,500 is spent on each student in the U.S. The problem isn't the budget of education but rather the ineffectual way the money is spent and bad staff having tenure. There's more to it than that but each state already spends a LOT of money on education.

[@SpaceMonkey2385]

Smoky you forgot the fact that there was an interest. If you're interested in something you're more apt to learn it. Also, this is more geared to people with limited attention spans. Most people nowadays can't focus for much more than an hour. I blame it on things like this and the fact life is so rushed now. People want things instantaneously, including knowledge. Not long ago you had to take your time and read it instead of a 2 second google search or 3 minute youtube video.

[@whatactuallyhappens9857]

*less we need educating to educate, not assimilate

[@techniack]

KZbin had a cruel sense of humor to recommend this now

[@MyToranja]

It's that time of the year, where this video becomes relevant again!

[@im_not_political2026]

Watching again after the current debt limit fiasco

[@chrissytheconqueror7049]

This video is currently relevant... Again.

[@fsdds1488]

I love the fact that KZbin decided to recommend me this video after the news hit.

[@Trequavion]

whos just now getting this recommended

[@poppyorangeflower]

How did this procedure get approved anyway? Doesn't seem like checks and balances to me, Congress seems to basically tramp over the President at will.

[@romankazinets1759]

Very old comment but because the founding fathers wanted the government to be weak and non opressive.

[@aguyhere7945]

That's kind of the point though? The President isn't supposed to be a king.

[@user-tw3ru7ez4n]

the problem is, congress is stupif

[@aayushpatel2788]

A guy here President is supposed to be the Head of State and the Head of Government not a puppet though

[@princejellyfish3945]

@@aayushpatel2788 The president should be a puppet though, to the people, which in theory is what congress is--a representation of the people's will. However, with legal lobbying and the allowance for the two parties to write themselves basically into law, the congress doesn't really represent that any more.

[@Schwarzie10]

I love how he snuck the death star in the budget with "whatever"

[@megaawesomesupreme]

Man. This is actually happening now

[@cutestbear3327]

here we go again. may this video enjoy another wave of views.

[@Chrnan6710]

_"Here we are again, the start of the end,_ _But there's More."_ -Todd Rundgren, 1973

[@shengshu3510]

My my has this video aged like wine

[@neyara2532]

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN

[@frostysnowdog]

Thank you. I basically understood the debt limit as being money already "spent" (or at least earmarked for spending) - but your method of listing the roles of each branch of gov't really helped to explain it. I didn't know that the President *Had* to spend the money. For example - if I had budgeted to redecorate my house sometime this year - but the money I hoped to save wasn't shaping up - I wouldn't schedule the work. I thought the whole debt limit problem (at its crux) was because the redecoration of the house had occurred but the money to pay the bill wasn't available . I can see how being mandated to do the work whether the money was there or not could be a problem!!

[@OmegaTurtle]

Well here we are again…

[@christopherramsey7027]

0:39 "by _writing_ a budget" This is really clever wording here, because even though Congress does "write" the budget, both houses and the president have to pass it into law, just like any other bill. Similarly, every change to the debt limit is written by Congress, voted on by Congress, and eventually signed into law by the president. Even though I agree the debt limit doesn't make sense, it's unfair to mischaracterize the president as someone with no leverage in the situation, especially when he can just veto it and (usually) stop it from passing.

[@remembertotakeshowerspleas355]

It's comments like these that make me wonder how much subtle misinformation gets slid into these videos.

[@Griffin419]

"Even though I agree the debt limit doesn't make sense". Yes, how silly to think one should only spend money one actually has...

[@fusroda_2046]

Congress can however veto the veto. Congress can just trample over the president if they all agree to

[@michaldrabek5788]

So, it's basically a trillion-dollar version of a procrastinator's mind...

[@jacobrodriguez6911]

9 years later..

[@kallekulmala1876]

It's a very big brain strategy to spend more than you earn

[@PandemoniumMeltDown]

Well, if you don't have to pay the bill...

[@seanmac1793]

the government doesn't earn it sources. the government doesn't spend more than it has it spending more than it desires to collect for a large range of reasons

[@JCDavis314]

Oh look, a CGP Grey video that’s painfully prescient.

[@megamuffin15]

It's that time of year again!

[@chicken29843]

So the debt thing is entirely because of Congress and the presidents have had functionally no say

[@skipperdelcara5910]

Congress just sounds like an oversized burden

[@VCYT]

+Skipper Del Cairde - no, that's the Muslim world.

[@KiesandNoob]

+Skipper Del Cairde Welcome to America.

[@truboo4268]

+Skipper Del Cairde Yeah, just ask Russia. Putin, or any Russian leader, doesn't have to drag their feet through a legislative branch just to pass a law that the majority of people want, but the members of that legislative branch don't.

[@thelogicalapproach7103]

+Bryan Cotto a president could always just use executive orders to pass a law that the majority of the people don't want. That's awesome too, huh?

[@trispectre8366]

The Logical Approach But congress can retract it though if it wants too.

[@asierra8787]

here we go again

[@Kunori]

Looks like this video is very relevant again!

[@DaimonAnimations]

People blame Obama but they should blame the Congress.

[@TheQuigs07]

+Dai mon They blame the person who appears to be in charge. Though they vote for both Pres, and Congressmen/women. People basically vote for other people who get paid with their taxes to tell them about problems that they are causing themselves.

[@NicCagetheDickMage]

So the president is congresses fall guy?

[@DaimonAnimations]

Nic Cage the Dick Mage Isn't that the reality? The president all can do is propose his solutions but is the congress at the end if they allow it or not. The president has no real power outside of that. Or am I wrong? All presidents promise things to get a better country but is the congress who helps them to achieve this ideas or shut the door in their faces and lose the opportunity to go through. Is not that the president doesn't follow his promises, is that the congress not always allows this to most presidents unless it benefits the congress directly.

[@BrandonByerly-Sam9501]

In all honesty, the entire process of voting for a president is really just a waste of time and a waste of money. Its not like the president gets a say in anything. I feel like the whole election is simply there so that there is argument between the citizens of the United States.

[@ejr7733]

People blame trump but hey should blame congress

[@clupos74]

This channel is helping me not be frustrated when I don’t understand something

[@audracraig1211]

As is one of its many reasons for its existence.

[@frank3p088]

Could not be more relevant now with the 2023 Recession looming... even though this was made in 2013. Thank you Computer Generated Person Grey!

[@danmur15]

well looks like this is relevant again

[@lumpymuffins69]

I've been watching you since my sophomore and I've been waiting for your videos to show up in one of my classes. Finally this one came up in my senior year economics class and I totally geeked out. Keep up the great work, CGPGrey!

[@lbesavant]

About that…..

[@fakhrimahendra4171]

This is getting more and more relevant

[@GSYdrums]

It’s 2023 and the KZbin algorithm knows what it’s doing

[@taiodelgato9596]

PLEASE DO A VIDEO explaining the Affordable Care Act(Obama Care). It'll be a great service! From a"Map Geek" to the next, Keep up the good work!!!

[@gearcraftrealestate4419]

After a 2-hour CGP Grey marathon I believe I have found my favourite video :) Awesome work!!!

[@austin30233]

Hmmm.... why is this popping back into my feed in January 2023 I wonder?

[@ChadRockwell]

when you said last possible second at the end of the video my alarm went off when you said second .-.

[@tornadospin9]

So, as long as we pay the interest of this debt we’ll be fine. Problem is, the more debt you rack up, the more money you have to pay just to par the interest. For example, a 10% interest with $100 will have money to pay off than 10% with $1000. More and more government budget is put towards this interest each year. Eventually, it will reach a crustal mass where there is more interest than the government makes. When that happens we are screwed. It’s like a dangling Anvil that’s getting heavier and heavier. Eventually, the rope will snap and smash through the floor boards AKA us bring the government and the world economy with it. We have 3 options. We could pay off the more than we push our selves into it. This would hurt the economy and take centuries to pay off. It took the Germans 90 years to pay off $23 Billion WWI reparations. We have almost 1000x that. 2: we could dig ourselves deeper until we reach a tipping point. 3: We could cut the rope and deal with the consequences now instead of later. It would be bad but better than option 2. We are in a catch 22. God help us.

[@Lucasp110]

In Brazil we have the Fiscal Responsibility Law, that say that the states, municipalities and the union can't spend more than 1/2 of the taxes money.

[@amypage3189]

+Lucasp110 But isn't Brazil's economy absolute shit?

[@rafaelhernandez3690]

It's because of this that many countries can't develop like the U.S. has. They depend on resources of their land and people to back their worth while the U.S. has no limit of spending and borrowing as long as it makes a steady return and holds control of the world economy with its currency. Don't get me wrong I love and live in the U.S. but didn't know this lifestyle would be that costly and it makes me sad other countries development is halted by this.

[@davidburke4101]

+Rafael Hernandez The only reason that america works like that because it is the international currency. Without that leverage america would be broke like a person with too much credit card debt.

[@jasonstelzer2250]

Then why collect those taxes if they aren't going to be used a 1:2 ratio seems ridiculous and unnecessary, and creates a tax burden without much benefit.

[@dragonhold4]

+Lucasp110 That's an interesting way to handle corruption. If there is a limit, people should be more attentive in how they spend and plan for the future. What's important is for a government to develop successful methods to plan appropriately on a macroeconomic level. -If a kid can't manage their own little allowance appropriately, why_should/how_can they be trusted with an inheritance of a life's earnings.

[@CiY3]

come back to this it seems every year now...

[@InspiredCaterpie]

This here algorithm is very funny for recommending this video to me in September 2021.

[@vellyjatt007]

Who’s here after Oct,2021 U.S Debt limit raised to $28.9 Trillion Dollars.

[@anthonybowman3423]

I remember back when I was in the military and we couldn't get paid one month because they couldn't figure out how to balance the budget. Wasn't an issue for me, but I had friends with wives and kids that needed that check in the mail. Not entirely on topic, but not entirely irrelevant either.

[@MrMarcox199]

Welcome back!

[@MrSafer]

I am just seeing this now in 2020 sorry if someone already mentioned or went over this. This is a MAJOR over-simplification, the amount of agencies and entire office buildings dedicated to managing budgets is enormous. For example, my brother works for the army and his entire job is ensuring night vision goggles are ordered and make it to where they are needed, about 300 people do the same job he has. You can see why the budget gets bloated fast.

[@frankyboy8513]

yeah its almost as if this channel is for simplification of complicated topics

[@TJStellmach]

Consider that there are over a million people in the US Army.

[@GuardNinja250]

We need to get the budget on a Dave Ramsey class.

[@imbored742]

This video does kinda gloss over the negative effects of national debt, which is why the debt limit was instituted in the first place. Sure politicians playing the blame game is not conducive to getting things done (most things involving politicians aren't) but massive national debt is crippling to economies for the same reasons that massive personal debt is crippling to financial well-being. We can't simply pull money out of the air to pay for things we can't afford. While ideas like the debt limit have been bogged down in politics there needs to be some way to curtail the massive increases we've been seeing in national debt.

[@asthmaticrhino]

You mean like passing a balanced budget? That would be just crazy, huh?

[@imbored742]

asthmaticrhino There's no real incentive for politicians to pass a properly balanced budget. It would be far too politically inconvenient. Everyone wants their pet project funded and no one wants to raise taxes as it would be political suicide (for good reason) not to mention tremendously harmful for the economy. Furthermore, a politician's main goal is to get re-elected, so they tend to limit their long-term thinking to the next election cycle and no further. And then they can score some points in the polls by blaming the bad budget on how uncooperative their opponents were.

[@alexandre3989]

How about a deficit limit that congress has to respect when passing a budget?

[@imbored742]

Alexandre Pinho Any deficit increases the national debt. Limiting how fast the debt increases is not the issue, decreasing the national debt is. What really needs to happen is that people need to realize that they can't have the gov't pay for everything. Limit the gov't to it's essential functions, and then watch them like a hawk to make sure they stay that way.

[@alexandre3989]

imbored742 How about raise the ridiculously low taxes? Or at least close some loop holes in the tax code. Check out Bernie Sander's progressive budget: www.bernie.org/action/bernies-progressive-budget/

[@steveheist6426]

No idea why this is showing up in YT recommended. Nope. None at all.

[@mikebean.]

It must be because the us is about to hit the debt limit

[@Matthew_Murray]

This is being recommended again guess what time of year it is….

[@victorniel368]

2023 debt limit anyone?

[@kelteglemou5104]

Very relevant right now

[@bthsr7113]

Gee, wonder why THIS is in my recommended.

[@NFSHeld]

Wait, this video just popped up in my recommendations. Is it time again, yet?

[@AeroAstroid]

The bomb exploded and destroyed the camera. that's why the video ended there.

[@daosga3]

Couldn't imagine this being a problem later

[@moronix4902]

The fact that the video ended at 3:33 really shows the effort he put in making this video

[@MichaelPace2.0]

This is such a great explanation, everyone needs to see this.

[@goddammitmatt4349]

8 years later and politicians are still arguing about if we should raise it.