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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Thursday Musings [1]

['Thom Hartmann', 'Chitown Kev']

Date: 2026-08-20  

News of Harry and Megan’s return to the UK and the controversial human printer’s relationship with the president Wednesday overshadowed the NYT report on the US debt surpassing $40 trillian

America’s gross national debt topped $40 trillion for the first time on Wednesday, an ominous milestone for an economy that sits on a shaky fiscal foundation after decades of borrowing to pay for the rising costs of the military, social safety net programs and President Trump’s tax cuts. This year alone, the United States is on track to borrow more than $2 trillion to help pay for its obligations, including spending on the war in Iran and the sweeping tax cuts that Republicans enacted in 2025. Soaring interest payments to investors who have purchased America’s debt now make up about half of that red ink, pushing the United States into a deeper financial hole.

So many risks associated with this level of debt.

The inability of lawmakers to confront the debt comes with long-term risks. While the United States remains the world’s largest economy, its mounting debt load could lead investors to demand higher interest rates for U.S. bonds or raise questions about the nation’s creditworthiness, which could erode confidence in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

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Thanks to the discussion here last Thursday on beginning a Climate Cafe here at Daily Kos, I reached out to the Climate Change Anxiety Support group and we posted our first installment of what will be a Sunday feature.

The Climate Change Anxiety Support Group introduces the Climate Cafe, a space where you can share your thoughts and fears and find community to assist you as we deal with this unparalleled situation. We’ll be here to check in on each other as we navigate through this crisis, to share resources and provide some tools to help us cope. The Climate Cafe will be a safe space for you to report on your feelings and let us know how you are directly being impacted by climate change. Look for our posts on Sunday afternoons. Please join us.

There are a few eco-writers involved right now. We are thinking perhaps as this develops people will be interested in writing their own stories about how climate change is impacting them. There were quite a few kossacks who expressed gratitude for the space we were providing and so I’m looking forward to future Sundays with the hope that people can find some comfort in community.

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There is a very long list of foods recalled in 2026, but this one really stood out. — 𝙽𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙸𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝙸𝚝 (@nashishereforit.bsky.social) 2026-08-20T15:27:10.846Z

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/20/800086719/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-thursday-musings/

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