Society

May 25, 2026…Memorial Day

THE NATIONAL DEBT:  $39.1 trillion

 

Some believe that the only part of the solution to the $39.1 trillion national debt…is eliminating government waste.  For those people, I have a question…

So what exactly prompted the breakdown in the friendship between Elon Musk and President Trump after Elon Musk did so much to eliminate waste in federal spending?

 

THE WORLD ALMANAC.  2026

The Department Of Defense paid O-9’s and O-10’s $18,808 a month in 2025.  So the most the U.S. Government paid any military personnel in 2025 in a single year was $225,696.

$225,696 a year for the highest ranking officers in the military.

The Federal Income Tax Rate for those making over $626,350 was 37% in 2025.   ($626,350 is quite a bit more money than $225,696.)  

• Are people who make more than $626,350 a year that much more valuable to society than anyone in the military?  
• Is it possible some folks are overpaid and undertaxed in light of what the government pays military personnel and that the country faces a $39.1 trillion national debt? 
• Did President Eisenhower know what he was doing back in the 1950’s when he taxed top income earners at 91% to keep national deficits under control?