Columnist Ken Buck writes, "America has a socialism problem -- or a socialism perception problem. A great swath of our country has bought into the lie that socialism can somehow provide a better quality of life."

Columnist Ken Buck writes, "This year, the federal debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time ever, doubling in size in less than a decade. Like an individual with significantly overdrawn credit card, our country's massive debt load is snowballing."

"It's really a call to action," Ken Buck said. "If we don't get our act together on this issue, we're going to be facing a national debt that is not just scary, as it is now over $40 trillion, but is going to really cripple our country and our economy."

Former Rep. Ken Buck told Newsmax on Tuesday that socialist candidates are making inroads in Democratic politics, particularly among younger voters, as Americans struggle with high living costs and concerns about the country's future.

Accusing President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers of subverting democracy has become the crux of Democrats' messaging. Never mind that most of the administration's actions over the past two years have been to undo Biden's overreach.

Despite a lot of talk about fiscal responsibility, lawmakers in Washington are continuing to run up the tab on America's already maxed-out credit card.

The U.S. national debt crossed another grim milestone this month, surpassing $40 trillion for the first time ever. That's more than double the amount owed in 2017 and is expected grow to $64 trillion within the next decade.

Even if one were to accept the law's estimated $250 billion of deficit reductions — a number largely reliant on deferred spending cuts and aspirational forecasts, like the faux Medicare savings — the savings were offset, many times over, by Democrats' uncontrollable penchant to spend taxpayers' money.

The actions send a clear message: States that refuse to get serious about fraud and abuse will quickly see the spigot of federal funding shut off. It's about time. The Government Accountability Office estimates that taxpayers lose as much as $521 billion to fraud every year. The federal government made at least $186 billion of improper payments last year, over half of which occurred in health care programs.

While concerns about AI automation have dominated headlines and sucked the oxygen out of the room, a bigger, more immediate threat to Americans' job prospects and wages continues to go virtually ignored: That is the crowding-out effect of the rising federal debt on private investment.

Our policy of economic entanglement has enriched Beijing while leaving American families, American farmers and American food security exposed to a communist regime that plays by no rules but its own. This arrangement has avoided open conflict, but it has enabled the weaponization of the very supply chains we depend on to feed our nation.

New York City has put out a welcome mat for illegal immigrants, practically inviting them to join in Mayor Zohran Mamdani's "collective warmth" of socialism. There's just one problem: The city needs your tax dollars to pay for it.