There was a time when the American economy roared. Today, it purrs — not for lack of fuel, but because the Federal Reserve has its boot on the gas pedal. We are watching a central bank intentionally choke the engine of national growth while pretending it’s protecting us from the fire of inflation. But that fire’s been out for months. What remains is the smoke of bureaucratic ego and institutional cowardice.
Chairman Jerome Powell — the unelected high priest of monetary stagnation — has once again refused to lower interest rates, despite overwhelming evidence that the American economy is ready to surge. The numbers aren’t subtle. And the cost of his inaction is not theoretical. It is real. It is personal. And it is bleeding the American worker dry.
The Hidden Tax of High Rates
Let’s speak plainly: the interest rate is a tax. It may not appear on your W-2, but you pay it every day — on your mortgage, your credit cards, your car note, your small business line of credit. And the higher the Fed keeps that rate, the higher the toll on your future.
Consider this:
The federal government will spend $952 billion this year on interest payments alone — more than it spends on national defense. That’s nearly $2,900 per citizen, or $11,600 per family of four.
With the Fed keeping rates elevated, that figure is projected to climb to $1.8 trillion by 2035. That’s not an economic forecast — it’s a death sentence for fiscal solvency.
One single percentage point reduction in the federal funds rate could shave $120 billion off the annual debt burden, freeing capital for infrastructure, veterans, defense, or even — God forbid — returning it to the taxpayers who earned it.
But the damage doesn’t stop at the federal level.
The Personal Cost of Bureaucratic Cowardice
In a sane monetary system, an interest rate responds to economic health. But under Powell’s rule, the Fed clings to outdated fears while ignoring today’s triumphs. Inflation has dropped from 9.1% in 2022 to 2.7% as of June 2025. Wage growth is steady. Job creation is strong. And yet the cost of borrowing remains punitive.
Here’s what Powell’s stubbornness costs you:
A 1% drop in mortgage rates saves the average homeowner $200–$300 per month on a $400,000 mortgage. That’s $3,000+ per year, back in the pocket of working families.
Small businesses — the lifeblood of American prosperity — face credit lines upwards of 10%. A 1% cut could unlock tens of billions in capital, fueling job growth and innovation.
Auto loans, already averaging 7% for a 5-year term, would drop, making car ownership — and the freedom it represents — more accessible to working Americans.
Instead, we’re stuck in economic purgatory: neither in crisis, nor free to grow.
GDP Lost, Futures Delayed
The difference between 1.4% and 1.7% GDP growth might not sound like much — until you remember that’s $60–80 billion in lost output this year alone. That’s enough to fund:
1 million $60,000-a-year jobs
A nationwide bridge restoration program
A return to space dominance via private–public aerospace development
But Powell says “not yet.” Why? Because of fear. Because of control. Because an empowered, self-sufficient, financially free American populace terrifies institutions built to micromanage decline.
Trump’s Growth Agenda vs. the Fed’s Control Agenda
President Trump has called for a cut to 1% — a return to expansion, enterprise, and national confidence. The Fed has responded with technocratic muttering and downward-revised projections. They are not forecasting reality. They are justifying restraint.
Their restraint, however, is not noble. It is ideological. And it is expensive.
Every day the Fed refuses to act, Americans lose:
$330 million per day in excessive federal interest (based on $120B/yr in avoidable debt service)
Thousands in lost household savings and consumer credit costs
Opportunity — for home ownership, job expansion, and local enterprise
This is the cost of control. Not the kind that ensures order. The kind that ensures dependency.
The Verdict: America Needs a Monetary Revolution
If you believe in free markets, you should be furious. If you believe in individual liberty, you should be incandescent. The Fed is not defending stability. It is defending its own relevance — at your expense.
This is not a call for chaos. This is a call for common sense.
The American people have earned a rate cut. The data supports it. The economy demands it. And if the Fed won’t act, then it’s time to reassert constitutional oversight over these unelected stewards of stagnation.
Because this is not their country to choke. It’s ours to build.
Sources:
Peterson Foundation: U.S. Interest Cost Projections (2025–2035)
Bureau of Labor Statistics: CPI Inflation Report, June 2025
Federal Reserve: FOMC Projections, July 2025
Business Insider: Mortgage & Credit Card Rates, July 2025
U.S. GDP and Federal Revenue Data: BEA and CBO, Q2 2025
AP: “Powell Refuses to Cut Rates Again” (July 2025)
