Our system was built to be slow, but what happens when “slow” turns into “stalling” while a deeply unpopular president keeps testing the limits?

In this Brief, I talk about:

• Why checks and balances were designed as brakes

• How Congress is failing to use its power

• Why protests like the No Kings march are a democratic pressure valve, not a tantrum

New here? I’m Patty, your politics explainer over at Politically POMP.

In 1980, the United States owed under $1 trillion. Today we’re approaching $40 trillion, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, we’ve added $1 trillion in just the last five months, about $50 billion a week in new borrowing.

In this episode of The Brief, we break down how it happened in three major waves:

1️⃣ 1980s–90s: tax cuts, Cold War spending, and sky‑high interest rates.

2️⃣ 2000s–early 2010s: two wars, the Great Recession, and financial bailouts.

3️⃣ 2020s: pandemic relief, earlier tax cuts, and skyrocketing interest payments.

This isn’t ancient history; it’s how the world’s largest economy built a debt load bigger than its GDP. And just like collapsing empires before us, we keep assuming “this time is different.”If you want the numbers behind the headlines, the patterns that repeat across history, and what the latest CBO report really means, this episode is your plain‑English guide.

Listen now to learn:

The difference between deficit and debt (and why both matter)

Why the government borrows even in “good times”

What rising interest costs mean for the next generation

How big powers, from Rome to Britain, ran the same playbook

📰 Read the full write‑up:

The detailed Substack post- https://politicallypomp.substack.com/p/how-did-the-us-end-up-nearly-40-trillion?r=6sikoi

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