Por Renan Filho · 2026-09-26The United States is approaching a pivotal moment. With less than six weeks until the 2026 midterm elections, voters are being bombarded with competing claims about the state of the nation. Yet beneath the political noise, two structural failures demand honest scrutiny: the federal government’s inability to manage its finances and its abdication of border sovereignty.
Consider the economic data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that the Consumer Price Index rose 3.2% year-over-year in August, core inflation remains at 3.1%, and the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index—the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge—is still hovering at 2.8%. This is not the “transitory inflation” promised in 2021; it is a persistent erosion of purchasing power that has left real wages for the bottom 40% of earners essentially flat since 2020.
Meanwhile, the national debt has surpassed $36 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s daily statement. The Congressional Budget Office’s latest long-term budget outlook projects that interest payments alone will consume nearly 5% of GDP by 2030—more than the combined budgets for defense and discretionary domestic programs. This is not a partisan talking point; it is arithmetic. Every dollar spent on interest is a dollar not spent on infrastructure, education, or national security.
Why does this matter for the average American? Because the cost of living is directly tied to fiscal policy. The Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan pumped $1.9 trillion into an economy already recovering from pandemic lockdowns, fueling demand that outstripped supply. Subsequent legislation—the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—added another $1.2 trillion in new spending, much of it debt-financed. The result? Inflation that the Fed is now trying to tame with interest rates above 5.5%, making mortgages, car loans, and credit card debt more expensive for families.
The FORTIS analysis is clear: the state spends badly, taxes too much, and delivers too little. The federal government’s tax burden has reached 19.6% of GDP, a post–World War II high, yet the quality of public services continues to decline. Roads are crumbling, public schools fail to teach basic literacy, and the Social Security trust fund is projected to be insolvent by 2034. The solution is not higher taxes—it is a fundamental reexamination of the federal government’s role. Free markets, not central planners, allocate resources more efficiently. The private sector, when allowed to operate without regulatory strangleholds, creates the innovation and productivity gains that lift living standards.
On the border, the facts are equally stark. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data for fiscal year 2026 (through August) show over 2.5 million encounters at the southern border, surpassing the record set in 2023. The number of known “gotaways”—individuals who evade apprehension—is estimated by Border Patrol sources at over 200,000 per year. This is not merely a humanitarian challenge; it is a sovereignty crisis. A nation that cannot control who enters its territory cedes the very definition of statehood.
The administration’s response has been a patchwork of executive actions and court-constrained policies. The “Remain in Mexico” program was ended; asylum processing was streamlined in ways that critics argue incentivize illegal entry; and a new parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has admitted over 300,000 individuals without congressional authorization. The result is a system that rewards those who break the law over those who wait for legal entry. This is not a conservative or liberal value—it is a violation of basic fairness.
Counterpoint: Advocates of current border policy argue that most migrants are fleeing violence and persecution, and that the United States has a moral obligation to provide refuge. They also note that the economy benefits from immigrant labor. The FORTIS response: humanitarian obligations must be balanced with national security and the rule of law. The United States already admits over a million legal immigrants each year—the highest of any nation. The problem is not the number of immigrants; it is the method of entry. A sovereign nation has the right to set its own immigration rules and enforce them. The current chaos undermines public trust and encourages further illegal crossings.
On fiscal policy, defenders of the current spending levels argue that public investment is necessary to address climate change, inequality, and aging infrastructure. They point to low unemployment (3.9%) as evidence that the economy is strong. The FORTIS counter: low unemployment is not a measure of economic health when inflation erodes real wages. Moreover, much of the spending has been captured by special interests—green energy subsidies that enrich corporations, student loan forgiveness that transfers wealth to upper-middle-class graduates, and infrastructure projects that are mired in cost overruns. The private sector, if freed from crony capitalism, would deliver better outcomes at lower cost.
The path forward requires a return to first principles: limited government, fiscal discipline, and respect for national sovereignty. The 2026 elections are a referendum on whether Americans still believe in those principles. The data suggest that the current trajectory is unsustainable. FORTIS NEWS will continue to report the facts, regardless of which party is in power.