Is USA TODAY honest?

Here is what USAFacts says about itself:

“USAFacts exists to make government data easier to access and understand. We don’t tell you what to think. We give you what you need to make informed decisions.”

Here is what USAFacts says about federal debt:

How much debt does the US have?

The federal government had $38.5 trillion in debt as of 2025. If you can’t wrap your mind around that number (which is understandable), it comes out to about $112,700 per person.

When the federal government spends more than it brings in, a budget deficit occurs. The government then borrows money by selling bonds and other securities to cover the deficit.

What?! The U.S. government borrows dollars though it has the unlimited ability to create dollars?? Does that make any sense to you?

And who says the U.S. government never, ever can run short of dollars? Oh, just people like:

Federal Reserve Chairmen Alan Greenspan, and
Ben Bernanke, and
Jerome Powell, and
Beardsley Ruml, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and
Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill, and
prize–winning economist Paul Krugman, and
a representative of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
and every knowledgeable economist.

No, the federal government doesn’t borrow dollars. The USAFACTS writers are confused by semantics. They think federal debt is like personal debt and that federal bonds are like corporate bonds.

For you and me, debt can be worrisome. It even can be a problem for state and local governments. Not so for the federal government which uniquely is Monetarily Sovereign.

Corporations issue bonds as a way to borrow money. The federal government issues T-bonds, T-notes and T-bills, not to borrow dollars but to:

1. Provide a safe place for dollar holders to store unused dollars. This helps stabilize and support the dollar as the world’s leading currency and
2. Help the Federal Reserve control interest rates by establishing a “floor” rate for the safest depository in the world.

The USAFacts article continues:

Generally, the federal debt is an accumulation of budget deficits over time. So, how has the debt changed?

That is correct. And what is a “budget deficit”?  It’s what occurs when the federal government, which has infinite dollars, pumps more of those dollars into the economy than it takes out.

That is how our economy grows. The economy cannot grow when the government takes more dollars out (called a federal “surplus”) than it puts in. 

Now “surplus” sounds like a good thing to have. It is for you, and me, and cities, counties, states, and businesses, but not for the U.S. government. In fact, every depression in U.S. history has come from federal surpluses:

1804-1812: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 48%. Depression began 1807.
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929.
1997-2001: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 15%. Recession began 2001.

Clearly, the USAFacts writers do not understand the differences between personal finance and federal finance.

The federal debt grew to $39 trillion by April 2026, 4% higher than April a year prior after adjusting for inflation, and 36% higher than in 2019.

Translation: The federal government, which has infinite money, has pumped a net total of $39 trillion dollars into the economy, 36% more than it was in 2019. Had not run deficits, there would be no U.S. dollar.

And then we come to an amazing display of financial misinformation:

Analyzing debt relative to gross domestic product (GDP) makes it easier to track debt alongside economic and inflationary changes. It can also indicate the nation’s ability to repay its debt.

It is unforgivably wrong for two main reasons.

1. The so-called “debt” isn’t really debt at all. It’s just deposits in accounts owned by depositors. The government settles these by simply moving dollars from one account to another, both belonging to the same depositor. This doesn’t burden the government or taxpayers. It’s like shifting money from your savings account to your checking account.
2. The size of the so-called “debt” (deposits) has nothing whatever to do with the nation’s ability to repay its real debt from creditors. The U.S. federal government pays all its debts in full and on time, and it always will be able to do so. If a creditor presented the government with a legitimate invoice for $100 trillion this morning, the federal government could pay it all before the banks closed today. No problem at all.

A dollar bill and a T-bill essentially are the same, with the main differences being that the T-bill has a maturity date and pays interest.

Both represent dollars, equally backed by the federal government’s full faith and credit, and as such, are equal financial obligations. Yet you seldom will see anyone bemoan the number of dollars in the economy, when complaining about the number of T-bills.

The articlecontinues:

When gross debt reaches 100% of GDP, it indicates that the country owes as much as its economy generates annually.

In a dataset dating back to 1980, debt first surpassed 100% of the nation’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012. (Gross debt includes money the government borrows from itself plus debt held by the public, meaning Federal Reserve, US households and businesses, and foreign entities.)

Translation: “Gross debt” is the total of deposits in T-security accounts. GDP is total spending in America. When deposits are greater than spending . . . apparently something bad is supposed to happen.

Except there is no relevance. No one can explain why deposits should be less or more than total spending.  It’s a financial non-sequitur. 

The nation’s debt as a percentage of GDP reached a peak of 133% in the second quarter of 2020. As of Q4 2025, the debt-to-GDP ratio was 123%.

And nothing happened. The government continued to pay all its bills. No taxpayer was dunned for payment of federal “debt.”

However, that prediction failure didn’t dissuade USAFacts. I’ve not heard any apology or retraction for the ridiculous article.

No, instead we see this:

The government must pay interest on its debts just as people pay interest on credit card bills, for example. Debt interest payments comprised 13.8% of government spending in fiscal year 2025 — nearly $1 trillion. Interest payments change based on the debt’s balance and current interest rates.

Translation: The U.S. government, which has infinite dollars, added nearly $1 trillion growth dollars to the economy.

Apparently USAFacts believes this is shocking.

IN SUMMARY

There is an old saying, “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” I assume USAFacts  data is correct, but their translations are grossly misleading.

Despite their own disclaimer, “We don’t tell you what to think. We give you what you need to make informed decisions,” they do the opposite. They tell you to think the so-called federal debt is a problem.

They owe readers an apology for twisting the facts to suit a predetermined, and false, narrative. 

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell

Search #monetarysovereignty

Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell;

MUCK RACK: https://muckrack.com/rodger-malcolm-mitchell;

https://www.academia.edu/

……………………………………………………………………..

A Government’s Sole Purpose is to Improve and Protect The People’s Lives.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Source: https://mythfighter.com/2026/06/09/is-usa-today-honest/