 It has been quite a month over the skies of North America. Between February 4 and February 12, a high-altitude Chinese balloon and three other unidentified flying objects were shot out of the sky by U.S. fighter jets. Are we under attack by some foreign power, or an alien race from outer space? Or has the Air Force just gotten a little trigger happy? This series of incidents created quite a stir across the country, and seemed to catch the military by surprise. The Biden Administration was certainly caught off guard, causing it to overreact in the face of public and political criticism. What do we know about the flying objects that the air force shot down, and is this something else we need to add to our long list of things to worry about? Here is what we know about the unidentified flying objects, now referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) by the government, shot down by the U.S. military in recent days:  Chinese Spy Balloon: The U.S. government has known about the existence of the Chinese military’s spy balloon program since 2020. The Chinese have sent spy balloons over more than 40 countries on five continents. The spy balloons augment the more than 260 intelligence satellites that the Chinese have in orbit. The U.S. began tracking the now infamous spy balloon in late January when it was launched from Hainan Island in southern China. Based on the trajectory of the balloon, U.S. officials believe that its mission was to conduct surveillance of U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii. Winds blew the balloon off course and it entered Alaskan airspace on January 28. The balloon traveled over Canada and the U.S. mainland before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. The Chinese balloon was flying at an altitude of approximately 60,000 feet, and therefore presented no hazard to commercial airliners, according to the Pentagon. Deflecting criticism for allowing the balloon to linger in U.S. airspace for several days, Pentagon officials claimed that the balloon posed no threat, and allowed the military to collect intelligence about the balloon and take high-resolution images of its equipment. The military also claimed to have locked down non-encrypted communications coming from military bases in the balloon’s flight path.   The Navy, Coast Guard, and FBI have finished recovering all the debris from the downed balloon from the ocean off of South Carolina. The debris was taken to the FBI lab in Virginia for analysis. The recovered electronics and optical equipment reinforced the military’s conclusion that the object was in fact a Chinese spy balloon. To this day, Chinese officials insist that the balloon was a civilian device used for weather research that had simply drifted off course. If you believe that, you believe that Putin invaded Ukraine to rid it of Nazis.  Three More Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Shot Down:
 What’s Going on in the Skies Above Us? Due to the lack of debris recovered from the three UAPs recently shot down, we will never know preciously what they were or where they came from. What we do know is that none of the three objects were emitting signals of any kind. They were traveling at low speed at an altitude of 20,000 feet to 40,000 feet, within the range of transcontinental air traffic. The claim by the military that the UAPs posed a danger to air traffic lanes provided cover for its actions. The current thinking from the military and intelligence community is that the UAPs were most likely balloons, or similar devices owned by private companies, research groups, or recreational clubs studying weather or conducting research. The military has known for many years that there is a large amount of airborne trash floating around at high altitudes, in addition to objects participating in active scientific research, like weather balloons.  In response to the incursion into U.S. airspace by the Chinese spy balloon, the military radar systems monitoring the American and Canadian airspace have been adjusted to make them more sensitive to slower moving objects. The result is that our radar systems are spotting many more objects that would have previously been missed. So, if I were you, I would put off scheduling any hot air balloon trips until the military has its radar systems fully dialed in.  The Real Significance of Recent UAP Events: The shooting down of four UAPs by the military earlier this month revealed its shortcomings in monitoring America’s airspace. But this will be corrected with time. The real threat to our country isn’t from little green men in flying saucers, or from other UPAs. The real threat comes from frayed relations with China. Recent events have revealed just how strained the relations between the U.S. and China really are. The Chinese spy balloon incident further strained relations between our two countries. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a scheduled trip to Beijing where he was expected to meet with President Xi Jinping. China’s defense chief refused to take a call from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the spy balloon incident. The U.S. Commerce Department announced plans to ban trade with several Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese military. In response, Chinese officials have stated that they will take “counter measures” against “relevant American entities”.  The heightened tensions between the U.S. and China should come as no real surprise in light of recent actions taken by the Biden Administration. These include increased U.S. military access to bases in the Philippines, a new military technology agreement with India, restrictions on sales of advanced computer chips to China, and the development of new security agreements with Australia and Britain. When you include Japan’s announcement that it will increase military spending and America’s commitment to Taiwan, it’s not surprising that China feels more isolated and is acting more aggressively with its spy balloon program. The last thing that the world needs is for the two superpowers to enter into a cold war. Fortunately, U.S. and Chinese diplomats have begun to talk again in recent days. Secretary Blinken met last weekend with the Director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Affairs Office at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. For the sake of our two countries, and indeed the world, let’s hope that the channels of communication can open and tensions cool. It is better to fix any problems now when the threat from China involves spy balloons. When the problems escalate to nuclear weapons, it may be too late.  If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com.
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 I previously wrote about the debt ceiling in October of 2021. It was the last time a divided Congress threatened the financial stability of the country, and indeed the world, by withholding support for increasing the amount of money the U.S. Treasury can legally borrow to pay its bills. The only thing different this time is the cast of characters in Washington D.C.  The federal government reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on January 19, 2023. It took the government decades to reach this level of debt, and is the result of tax cuts and spending increases from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has stated that through the use of “extraordinary measures” (fancy accounting), the federal government will be able to continue to pay its bills through early June. Congress must increase the debt ceiling in order for the Treasury to raise the money needed to pay the bills that Congress has already approved. If this doesn’t happen, the Treasury will run out of money and not be able to pay all of its financial obligations. No reasonable person wants this to happen, but it is a test of the new Congress and President Biden as to how the current impasse gets resolved.  President Biden’s Position: The President has stated that he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. He wants it increased with no strings attached. President Biden’s refusal to negotiate with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy stems from his experience during the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations between the Obama Administration and Congressional Republicans. When negotiations broke down, the United States suffered its first ever credit downgrade, financial markets were rattled, and recovery from the Great Recession was threatened. Biden pledged that he would never again allow debt ceiling negotiations threaten the financial stability of the United States. President Biden should have pushed through a debt ceiling resolution last fall when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. I believe that he feared that such a move would have appeared too partisan. To that I say, “so what”. It’s better than allowing Congress to threaten the financial credibility of the country, and diverting legislative attention away from more important issues.  Speaker McCarthy’s Position: During his fight for the House Speakership last month, Kevin McCarthy assured the ultraconservative members of his party that he would use the debt ceiling as leverage to force budget cuts. The new House Speaker has met with the President in recent days to extract spending cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling increase. McCarthy wants an 8% reduction to the current budget, which would bring spending down to 2022 budget levels. Apparently, the meeting was not a negotiation but simply a discussion, with each side stating their position. But McCarthy has not shown the President, or the American people, his proposed budget. He has spoken in general terms, but has not defined which budget items would be cut and to what extent. Speaker McCarthy has mentioned that he would like to see changes to major entitlement programs, and to cut annual spending that funds the operating budgets of federal agencies. All well and good, just show us your plan. I don’t think that McCarthy will be able to gain much ground with the President on this issue anytime soon. The government won’t run out of cash until sometime in June, which gives McCarthy more time. This will be a real test of his leadership abilities, and show just how secure his position as Speaker of the House really is.  Do Away with the Debt Ceiling: Paying our federal debts should be an automatic act, not subject to the whims of political brinksmanship. The debt ceiling doesn’t control federal spending, and needlessly burdens Congress with legislation when its time is needed for much more urgent matters. It often brings the Congress to a standstill and prevents the Treasury from performing its functions efficiently. It’s time for the United States to join most other industrialized countries and abolish the federal debt ceiling altogether.  The fact that the U.S. government is on the verge of adding more debt to the $31.4 trillion already owed is incomprehensible to most Americans. Interest payments alone on the national debt amounted to $475 billion in the last fiscal year. It will be significantly higher this year. That is money not available for social programs, infrastructure spending, or any other national priority. An alternative to borrowing more money to fund public spending is to collect more taxes. But one of the first bills passed by the new 118th Congress was to rescind the $80 billion in new funding for the I.R.S., passed in the last Congress. That makes it hard for me to believe that the Republicans are serious about getting the government’s fiscal house in order. Fortunately, the bill will never get approved by the Democratic held Senate.  The discussion over government spending and public debt is a discussion worth having. But having that discussion when the debt ceiling has already been reached, is a little late. The money has already been spent. The time for that debate is during the presidential election season. Substantive discussions around government spending, paying down the national debt, and other fiscal initiatives would be welcome, and long overdue. Bring on the debate!  If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com.
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