This is an opinion column

Politicians mislead. Math reveals truth.

DC Republicans recently passed a host of budget cuts, including trimming spending for National Public Radio and PBS, which includes Alabama Public Television.

As expected, the left moans and wails and cries, “The sky is falling!” in every media outlet they can access.

What is the truth?

Symbolically: The cuts are a big deal.

Substantively: The cuts are miniscule.

Huge Symbolism

DC Republicans already hurt America, and risked their own primary re-elections, by voting to increase America’s debt ceiling by $5 trillion and increase America’s debt by $3.4 trillion via “The Big Beautiful Bill.” They already passed a budget that calls for $7 trillion more debt during President Trump’s term and $19 trillion more debt over the next decade.

Hence, Republican incumbents crave something, anything, to market themselves as less financially irresponsible than they really are.

This brings us to the Recissions Act of 2025, known as HR 4, which will ”rescind $9.4 billion in unobligated funds that were provided to the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), various independent and related agencies, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”

So Alabama’s GOP Congressional delegation spins HR 4 to project a somewhat deceptive debt-cutting image. They loudly proclaim HR 4 eliminates “bias media handouts”; “cuts waste, fraud and abuse;” stops federal funding of race and sex discrimination; keeps DOGE cut promises, and the like.

All are talking points to help win GOP primaries.

But do these talking points paint an accurate picture?

Paltry Substance

The math pierces the GOP’s debt-cutting mirage and reveals HR 4’s $9.4 billion cut, in the context of America’s overall financial picture, is inconsequential.

America’s debt is $36.7 trillion. The math ($9.4 billion divided by $36.7 trillion) says HR 4 cut roughly 1/40th of 1% of America’s debt! Scoring 1/40th of one point is a failing grade on anyone’s report card.

America’s FY 2024 deficit was $1.8 trillion. America’s 2025 deficit through June is $64 billion worse than FY 2024’s pace. The math ($9.4 billion divided by $1.8 trillion) says HR 4 cuts this year’s deficit by roughly half of 1%! That doesn’t even begin to alter America’s bankruptcy trajectory.

The GOP’s budget (supported by all Alabama DC Republicans) is expected to increase America’s debt by $7 trillion during Trump’s presidential term. The math ($9.4 billion divided by $7 trillion) says HR 4 cuts America’s 4-year deficit by roughly 1/10th of 1%!

The same GOP budget is expected to increase America’s debt by $19 trillion over the next decade. The math ($9.4 billion divided by $19 trillion) says HR 4 cuts America’s 10-year deficit by roughly 1/20th of 1%!

Sigh. HR 4 simply doesn’t come anywhere close to solving America’s debt crisis and should not be portrayed as such.

History is a great teacher

Those who ignore history do so at their own peril. And the history of national bankruptcies is horrific.

The 2016 Greek debt crises ushered in 27% unemployment, worse than America suffered at any time during the Great Depression.

In Cyprus’s 2013 debt crises, the Cyprus government confiscated 30-40% of citizens’ checking and savings accounts to help pay off central government debt. Confiscation. The government forcefully taking citizen savings. Citizens could not stop it. Can Americans handle that?

Venezuela’s debt crises caused 800% hyper-inflation in 2016, an inflation rate that means a gallon of milk that cost $2.50 last year, costs $20 a gallon this year, and costs $160 a gallon next year. Can Americans afford that?

Do Americans want similar disruption and poverty?

Americans better get prepared because that’s where America is headed unless voters demand and get better DC politicians.

Republicans Are Bad; Democrats Are Worse

While this column focuses on Republican financial mismanagement (and rightfully so since Republicans control Congress and the White House), I would be remiss if I did not emphasize that Democrats’ debt junkie record is, sadly, even worse.

As paltry as HR4’s $9.4 billion in spending cuts are compared to America’s overall finances, not a single Democrat, not one, voted for HR 4. Not One!

Alabama Democrat Terri Sewell? Rep. Sewell not only voted against a relatively small $9.4 billion spending cut; she also used HR 4 to attack Republicans.

Alabama freshman Democrat Shomari Figures? While with less fanfare, Rep. Figures also voted against HR 4.

DC’s debt junkie Democrats have repeatedly, for decades, insisted on even more spending, even more debt. It’s as if Democrats want an American national bankruptcy!

Democrats remind me of former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel’s insistence that, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”

Sadly stated, and as repugnant as it may seem, it appears Democrats want to cause a national bankruptcy because they see it as an opportunity to replace free enterprise with socialism (plus do a lot of other bad things conservatives abhor.) Democrats seem to believe the citizenry will, in a national bankruptcy setting, be so desperate that the public will try anything. Even bad things that make matters worse.

To a conservative, that’s frightening.

Takeaways

As much as I hope more necessary spending cuts will pass Congress, the outlook is not good. Already GOP Senators like Mississippi’s Roger Wicker warn, “Let’s not make a habit of this.”

In any event, ballyhooed cuts are meaningless if they are offset by even higher spending elsewhere.

Do you want to know if your senator or congressman is a debt junkie? The best way to find out is by going to https://www.senate.gov/index.htm or https://clerk.house.gov/. These web sites reveal all recorded floor votes cast by all senators and congressmen. These web sites also reveal the language and financial cost of all bills voted on.

Another way to determine who the DC debt junkies are is by looking at the news releases of your senators and congressmen. If there is a news release boasting about HR 4 spending cuts, yet there are dozens of news releases crying “Look at me! Look at me!” and “I brought home the bacon” or “I spent money” on this, that or the other “wonderful thing”, then chances are you are represented by a debt junkie and should vote to replace him or her in the next election.

In essence, an interesting question to ponder is: “If neither political party will balance budgets, then why elect GOP debt junkie novices when you can elect Democrat debt junkie pros?”

Mo Brooks served on the House Armed Services Committee for 12 years and the Foreign Affairs Committee for 6 years.