January represents a time of new beginnings, an opportunity for self assessment and productive change — unless you sit in Congress, where inertia and fiscal fantasy rule the day.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office noted that the federal deficit for the first three months of fiscal 2026 — October through December — hit an estimated $601 billion. That puts spending on pace to exceed revenue by $2.4 trillion for the current fiscal year, a non-pandemic record. For comparison, the red ink in fiscal 2025 was $1.78 trillion.

In the meantime, the day of reckoning for Social Security and Medicare looms just seven years out, and the national debt roars toward an astounding $39 trillion.

Yet our elected officials in Washington carry on with little urgency, elevating their fear of the political fallout from making difficult decisions over the financial health of the nation. “The endless routine of kicking the can down the road must be left in 2025,” observed Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “or we risk leaving future generations with irreversible economic damage.”

Indeed, each year that passes without progress only worsens the likelihood of widespread fiscal pain for U.S taxpayers. Members of Congress aren’t protecting anybody by carrying on as if they’ll never have to address the coming train wreck.

It’s worth noting that the bleeding continues during a time of record federal revenue. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have generated around $370 billion — above projections — and income tax collections remain robust. During the first seven months of fiscal 2025, income and payroll tax receipts were up by $120 billion when compared with the previous year, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model.

But it’s never enough. The pandemic provided an excuse for Congress to enact numerous “temporary” spending measures that, predictably, led to a permanent expansion of the budget. In fiscal 2011, federal outlays were $3.8 trillion. In fiscal 2025, the nation spent $7.1 trillion, a whopping 87 percent increase in just 14 years. Debt payments in 2024 began to exceed defense and Medicare spending.

Democrats insist that tax cuts — allowing wage earners to keep more of their own money — under Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump have created this sea of red ink. This is akin to drunken sailors insisting that access to more grog will mitigate their penchant for alcohol. Putting aside the relationship between confiscatory tax rates and economic growth, does anybody really believe that significant tax hikes would encourage members of Congress to curtail their spending impulses? Quite the opposite.

Polls show that high percentage of Americans are concerned about the soaring debt and deficits. If so, they should act accordingly at the polls.

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