What does personal finance guru, Dave Ramsey, have to do with the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), which was signed into law on July 4, 2025?

In a way, nothing. Regardless of what Congress and the president decide to do with the nation’s finances, Ramsey continues to preach a gospel of thrift. With his “seven baby steps,” he urges Americans to save for a rainy day and major expenses, like education and retirement. After that, he advises them to pay down their debt—even low-cost mortgages—to eliminate decades of interest payments and create financial freedom. In contrast, the United States government wants to “spend like there’s no tomorrow,” he quips.

Here’s Ramsey back in 2023, when the U.S. debt (the cumulative amount of all our annual deficits and very few surpluses) hit $34 trillion:

Basically, the government relies on debt to foot the bill for most things (and has for a long time). Debt is the key ingredient that it uses to keep the basic functions of our government working. Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous. The U.S. has dug itself into such a massive hole that it has to keep asking to have its line of credit extended—just so it can keep on spending. Nope, it’s not an episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s just another day in the life of the U.S. government.

National Debt Statistics: Then & Now

I first wrote about the national debt for IFWE in 2023 when the total U.S. debt stood at $31.4 trillion. It is now $37 trillion. While politicians argue about the impact of the OBBB—and play games with differing baselines—non-partisan budget scorekeepers somberly estimate it will increase deficits by $3.4 trillion over ten years. This is because the bill’s extension of the 2017 tax cuts, combined with some new ones, further erodes the tax base more than it cuts spending. The most expensive piece of legislation since 2012, the OBBB conveniently hikes the statutory debt limit by $5 trillion, taking a key budget management tool out of commission. 

After all the budget gimmickry and political showdowns are said and done, how should Christians think about the national debt and get their heads around a financial sinkhole of $37,000,000,000,000—or about $106,000 per person? 

There are three main ways economists talk about the national debt: how it compares to the size of our economy (GDP), how it has increased over time, and how it compares to other peer countries.

Back in 1983, when I was an entry-level budget examiner at the Office of Management and Budget, the ratio of total U.S. debt to GDP was comfortably around thirty-six percent, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

U.S. Credit Rating Downgrades

Twenty-eight years later, when I was teaching public budgeting to graduate students, the ratio stood at over ninety percent—and produced a lot of pearl clutching. In August 2011, S&P, one of the three national rating agencies, lowered the credit quality of United States sovereign debt from AAA to AA+. I remember that day like the Challenger disaster of 1986. The financial downgrade was a real blow to American confidence. 

Fast forward to 2020, when the ratio skyrocketed to 132 percent due to extra COVID spending, combined with reduced tax revenues as the economy slowed. While things have improved a little since then, today the ratio is still over 120 percent. This means that the amount of debt Americans owe is twenty percent larger than the size of the U.S. economy, which is the largest in the world! Our debt now outpaces economic growth. 

In May 2025, citing concern with out-of-control debt, Moody’s joined S&P in lowering the U.S. credit rating by one notch to Aa1. Now we just shrug.

Effects on the U.S. Economy

Will the downgrade result in higher interest rates, as investors perceive that we are a riskier place to park their money? Probably not in the short term, as it is a matter of alternatives. As the joke goes, “The U.S. is still the best horse in the glue factory.” But still, here’s the debtors’ neighborhood we’re now punching in:

• Venezuela: 146%
• Italy: 135%
• U.S.: 122%
• Cuba: 119%
• Canada: 108%
• U.K.: 98%

Should we worry? Umm, maybe. The U.S. economy is a powerhouse, to be sure, and there is usually an economic lift following tax cut legislation. However, it’s not much. The 2017 tax bill resulted in just a 0.2 percent increase in growth. Despite GOP statements to the contrary, OBBB likely will have a similarly modest economic impact due to the “economic drag of higher debt.” Plus, stubbornly high interest rates mean that what the U.S. pays to its creditors now rivals what it spends on defense. That’s just scary.

Failure to reverse course puts our financial freedom in peril. If foreign governments and other investors decide our debt is dangerously high—and despair of American political will to deal with it—a widespread loss of confidence could be devastating. Interest rates would skyrocket, investment would fall, and jobs would be lost. A debt crisis would severely crimp America’s “all, always, everything” way of life. 

The DOGE budget cuts, which were later codified in rescissions passed by Congress, took an axe at the base of the tree—but ended up making nary a dent. While the public delighted in cuts to seemingly frivolous foreign aid programs, this is a drop in the bucket. The real issue is runaway entitlement spending, namely Medicare and Social Security, which neither political party has the courage to address. 

Conclusion

Someday—maybe soon—there will be a painful “come to Jesus” reckoning with our outlandish spending and our extreme distaste for paying for it. Taking a few “baby steps” today could help avert disaster.

“At the end of the day, the government is going to do whatever it wants to,” says Ramsey. “And even though you can’t do much about that, you can get serious about taking care of your money and making sure you’re not raising your own debt ceiling. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even inspire Uncle Sam while you’re at it.”