We’re experimenting with something. As we work toward a complete breakdown of the federal budget in a comprehensive essay and companion episode, we’re bringing our audience into the content creation process. We have a feeling this is going to be one of our behemoth entries into the canon (and potentially a two-parter.) So rather than overwhelm everyone with information in one shot, we thought it would be useful to break it apart as we go. The first two entries made it to YouTube already but I’m packaging them up in a single episode today. The first is how the GOP budget disproportionately impacts red states. And not in a good way. The second brings us back to our Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) discussions and reframes the way we think about the national debt. Both are crucial building blocks in our understanding of the federal budget.

Access the episode resources.

Chapters

Intro: 00:00:36

Red State: Fucked. 00:01:30

We Solved the Debt Crisis: 00:06:39

Post Show Musings: 00:21:49

Outro: 00:25:05

Resources

Congress: H.R.1 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Bipartisan Policy Center: Federal Balancing Act

White House: Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request

Jacobin: Trump’s Budget: Starving Everything Except the Military

Bloomberg Television: Millstein on US Downgrade, Tariffs, Trump Tax Bill

PBS News: What’s inside the House GOP’s budget bill? Here’s a look

Congress: H.Con.Res.14

PGPF: Chart Pack: The U.S. Budget

PGPF: What Is Budget Reconciliation?

The Conference Board: Reforming the Broken Federal Budget Process 

NACO: U.S. House passes reconciliation bill: What it means for counties 

Bipartisan Policy Center: What’s in the FY2025 Senate Budget Resolution

Georgetown CCF: Medicaid and CHIP Cuts in the House-Passed Reconciliation Bill Explained 

Reuters: US Treasuries: Who owns US debt?

UNFTR Resources

Modern Monetary Theory.

Stock Buybacks Surge.

Updated Tax Evasion Figures.

Video: GOP Spending Bill is a Red State Bloodbath

Video: Big Bullsh*t Bill adds $2.4 trillion to National Debt

5NN

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