On the head of a pin —that is where our economic well-being is balanced today as a result of the chaos of the Trump administration. 

It is not unlike the new administration is asking you to stake them to go to the local casino and see if they can win big…or lose it all.

Here is the problem: Our national debt is crushing the dollar, eating up the federal budget and threatening us with rising inflation while, amazingly, we are planning to increase the deficit and the debt.

It all started when the 21st century began. Since then, every administration has added to the debt, which was about $5 trillion in 2001, resulting in a national debt of $36.2 billion today. And, if Republicans have success, that amount will increase significantly over the coming decade, until it is unsustainable without huge sacrifices by all Americans but the wealthiest among us.

There is a simple problem and a simple answer. The problem is that we spend too much and/or take in too little taxes. The solution is to spend less and collect more. Otherwise, there is no solution to the problem.

When the first Trump administration passed its 2017 tax reduction, with about 82 percent  of it directed to the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations, the deficit exploded.

The annual deficits have grown by 248 percent since those tax cuts. The annual deficit is now 7 percent, while the economy’s annual growth is around 2 percent. This is not sustainable, and the Washington politicians know it.

However, knowing this fact does not seem to influence the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress. These leaders want to cut taxes by $4.5 trillion and increase spending (in the current Republican House budget proposal) by $480 billion on defense, border security and the cost of mass deportations. 

They also want to demolish government agencies that serve public interests, eviscerate Medicaid and eliminate public food aid.

 You may or may not agree with these priorities, but they are gambling with your dollars that their efforts will not lead to inflation that crushes many American family budgets. Their gamble is even bigger though,  because the president is promising tariffs that economic experts promise will cost every American family higher prices on virtually all goods and services if implemented.

 And all of this is taking place as consumer confidence is falling, a main driver of the economy, and inflation is rising. Grocery prices and housing costs continue to threaten family economic stability.

It is happening while our equity markets are stalling on fears of uncontrolled outcomes both in Trump’s rapid-fire government changes and his alienation of our biggest trading partners.

On the head of a pin, Americans do not know if this administration is about to undertake trade wars that sweep the globe, foreign policy shifts that abandon our allies and align us with the dictators and autocrats of the planet, and the general destruction of the administrative state that keeps the trains on time and the checks going out.

 Saying that this is creating unease among the American people is like saying a hurricane might bring a little rain.

We need to protect the weakest among us by funding Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. We need to raise the taxable income ceiling on Social Security, increase the tax on big business (cut in 2017 from 35 percent to 21 percent), and tax the wealthiest Americans at least as much as the rest of us.

Only then can we begin to restore the American Dream and give hope to so many who ask for so little. Perhaps the richest man on the planet (Mr. Musk) is not the best advocate for the rest of us.

— Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.