America’s Debt Soars as Washington’s Fiscal Hawks Vanish

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

North Korean hackers stole $6.3 billion from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance in a twenty-minute attack, marking the largest cyber heist in the industry’s history. The theft occurred amid a broader tech selloff that sent the Nasdaq composite to its worst day since June, driven by disappointing earnings reports from artificial intelligence companies. Meanwhile, the national debt owed to the public hit a historic high, equivalent to the entire annual economic output, yet only 30 political ads mentioned the deficit this year, compared to 140 in 2018.

Background

• OpenAI raised less than half of its targeted $30 billion funding round as investor appetite for AI trades declined.
• Affordable Care Act premiums are set to rise by 13% in 2027, continuing a trend of double-digit increases.
• Analysis of satellite images revealed that Iranian missile attacks caused billions of dollars in damage to U.S. military installations, forcing troop relocations.
• A poll of 1,500 voters indicated that 60% want the next Congress to serve as a check on presidential power.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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