Rating agency Fitch downgraded the United States government’s credit rating on August 1, citing “the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance.”

The mainstream media has fixated on the fight over the debt ceiling as the main cause for the downgrade. However, this is just one factor among many. Fitch drew attention to “a high and growing general government debt burden” as one core reason. They also noted that “there has been a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters.”

America’s debt has passed $32 trillion, and it is forecast to spend over $600 billion this year on interest alone. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that interest will cost more than $1.4 trillion in 2033 (more than any other spending category except Social Security and Medicare).

What is happening to America? In the August 2022 Trumpet issue, editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

In just a few short years, the wealthiest, most powerful, most influential single nation in human history has become dangerously radicalized, divided and weak.

It has rapidly fallen into political dysfunction, social division, economic woe. … The nation Abraham Lincoln called “the last best hope of Earth” is, as he warned, about to “die by suicide.” …

As America falls, terrifying new powers are filling the void. The world is becoming a prey to autocratic states like Russia, China and Iran. America’s self-destruction has already destabilized the world, increasing the dangers for all peoples—and this trend is certain to grow far worse.

Learn more: Request a free copy of America Under Attack.