President Dwight David Eisenhower was furious when we had a $7 billion dollar deficit.
President Ford, Treas. Sec. Wm. E. Simon, CEA Alan Greenspan and Fed Chair Arthur Burns managed a very healthy economy.
No government has performed as President Bill Clinton (D) and Representative John Kasich (R) did... the last time we were sane.
If we ignore fiscal accountability, Nationalist China, or Taiwan, will become more and more interesting to the People’s Republic of China... and them with the gold will rule. Quemoy and Matsu will become household words again.
The Thucydides Trap threatens... We will lose the trade war.
Pres. Trump advised by Larry Kudlow, the confessed Bear, Stearns crack addict my dad called Window Dressing... are like kids playing with their first Gilbert Erector Set, looking for the battery their parents forgot to buy. They cannot follow directions.
The Federal Reserve cannot manage when fiscal is out of control.
Here we have fiscal gone berserk and the nation flip flopping around like a beached whale in dry sand as directed by Trump as he runs his racially driven threat box and a trade war...
It’s painful to watch. The Bruiser seems to have mesmerized his party and paralyzed the national conscience.
What is going to break this evil spell?
8
Now that's excellent reporting ! They were able to slam Trump, Republicans and tax cuts without actually incorporating a critical statement by the CBO that recently enacted legislation, incorporating higher discretionary spending, accounts for most of the change from prior projections.
The CBO summary reads:
"Changes in CBO’s Projections Since May 2019. CBO’s estimate of the deficit for 2019 is now $63 billion more—and its projection of the cumulative deficit over the 2020–2029 period, $809 billion more—than it was in May 2019. The agency’s baseline projections of primary deficits (that is, deficits excluding net outlays for interest) for that period increased by a total of $1.9 trillion. Recently enacted legislation accounts for most of that change. In particular, incorporating the higher discretionary funding limits for 2020 and 2021 that were established in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 increased CBO’s projections of primary deficits for the 2020–2029 period by $1.5 trillion."
The GOP stance towards the federal deficit is explained by straightforward Keynesian economics. The only value that drives the GOP is "What's good for the GOP". Donald Trump is even more driven by the same value -- "What's good for Donald Trump". Nothing else matters.
Within reason, deficit spending by the government causes the economy to expand. An expanding economy is good for voters and therefore good for the elected officials responsible for it.
The GOP opposes deficit spending while Democrats are in charge because deficit spending will expand the economy and therefore strengthen the Democrats in charge of the economy. This is the worst possible outcome for the GOP and so they passionately oppose deficit spending while Democrats are in charge.
The GOP encourages deficit spending while Republicans re in charge for the same reason -- deficit spending will expand the economy and therefore strengthen the Republicans in charge of the economy. This is the best possible outcome for the GOP and so they passionately support deficit spending while Republicans are in charge.
Donald Trump only exaggerates this easy-to-understand principle (as he exaggerates everything).
The only mystery is why Democrats were foolish enough to make any effort at ALL to accommodate Republicans while the Democrats were in charge.
The deficit itself is irrelevant. The only thing that matters to the GOP is strengthening the GOP. THAT has been consistent for generations.
4
I cannot find words strong enough to express the sense of terror, the clenched stomach, that this article brings. This sdministration literally seeks to kill Americans, through reducing Social Security, Medicare and environmental protection.
The Trump administration deficit, brought on by their ill-conceived tax break for the rich, and unnecessary trade wars and tariffs, destroy, not just the U.S. economy, but the world's.
The U.S. is wealthy, but cannot sustain its government and services with a budget always in the red. Any government needs tax dollars to thrive. The Republican tax break for the rich reduced that amount by $430 billion annually, and will increase. Now they want to cut capital gains taxes further, another perq for the rich, and another nail in the coffin for America.
And speaking of coffins, Republicans want to reduce Social Security and Medicare, not roll back the billionaire tax break. Those funds are what I will depend on in the future, like millions of other Americans. I've paid into them over my working life, and am estimated to receive "not enough to live on in the U.S." at age 70.
Fiscal responsibility and humanity have been abandoned by Republicans. They play dirty and they don't care. Their follow leader, a guy with zero scruples. They vote only to protect the rich, and care nothing for the fate of 90% of Americans, or the planet.
Democrats need a candidate who can triumph over Republican lies, because, they must be voted out.
8
We pay a ton of money for the Trump families security. Who is protecting us from him? I am serious. He's destroying us.
7
"We are the party of fiscal responsibility" -- every Republican
4
Not surprising. Trump is notorious for running his companies into bankruptcy, which he used consistently to bail him out of his inept business practices. When he loses in 2020 (or God forbid) when he's out in 2024, the country's deficit will not be his problem. Typical Trumpian style of doing business.
3
Donald Trump either doesn't understand or doesn't care about the deficit. He passed his tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of future generations. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, he secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants. If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is important and what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for dirty tricks and destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
All those people who used to be rile up about Obama's budget deficit are no where to be found. I remember how they used to scream and shout. And right-wing media had a fit bellyaching like babies with colic. But now they're all quiet like church mice.
35
What if poor Trump was just a puppet, and the real leaders were the billionaires and their Republicans accomplices in Congress who don'r care about us, but only about themeselves
Then, when the buble bursts, when things turn ugly, they will wring their hands and claim that it is all Trump's fault, the he tricked them
What if another master pupeteer was Putin, who knowing Trumps ineptitude works for his election and reelection so he can best srve the inerests of his country.
How ironic to think that Trump believes he is the King if the world
4
What do you expect from the spoiled child of a rich man? Trump has never worried about money; he just spends it. He always had his wealthy father to bail him out. When he became an adult (at least by age criteria) and was broke again, Putin bailed him out. Now he's President of the U.S. and still spends more than he can afford (this time using our country's money!). The sooner he leaves the White House, the sooner our country will become healthy again!
4
Social Security does NOT contribute to the debt. It is self funded and currently in the black. I wish the media, and especially so-called 'responsible' papers like the NYT, would not repeat these Republican falsehoods.
4
The late Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 and was highly critical when our national debt was 5 trillion. The late sentors Rudman and Tsongas were on a mission to reign in our burgeoning deficits. The senators had a publication called “ The Zero Deficit Plan” which I had the opportunity to hand to President Clinton, personally in 1995. What happend? Clinton and Gingrich brought government revenues to surplus, not deficit.Then, George Bush gets elected, cuts taxes twice with his “spin line” of “ you should get it back, it’s your money”. NO! Deficits came roaring back. It was borrowed money. There are three things that are certain, death, taxes, and GOP intellectual dishonesty.
4
America has to face the truth. It is not that Trump is ignorant, but that Americans who voted for him are EITHER ignorant OR they foresaw profits for themselves at the expense of the bottom 52%.
3
Some posts seem to suggest that Trump is a serial LIAR. I have a different opinion. Trump is a CONGENITAL LIAR. In addition, he has a congenital AVERSION to TRUTH. These are serious medical conditions. Our health care system is so burdened that it cannot provide him the necessary relief. SO SAD; SO VERY SAD
3
Growing faster than expected? When you have Trump operating with no budget restraint, this is no surprise. He have run many going concerns into the ground.
3
Most Americans seem oblivious to the growing deficit. They get excited about money matters where they feel it in their pockets. Deficit? So what? What most voters do not realize is that the government pays interest on this growing debt. And when it comes to writing the budget, they first have to set aside money to pay the growing deficit---debt payment comes before spending. As the debt grows we have less and less for other expenses. There goes your cancer research, your aid to college students, your enhancing medical coverage, your fixing infrastructure---the billions we are now spending to pay the debt could be used to pay for things we desperately need. Furthermore, a large percentage of the money we pay goes to foreigners who buy our bonds---and brings no benefit to the economy here. That is why in the past Republicans screamed tirades at the deficit (when Democrats were in power) and there was good reason then to be upset with this wasteful spending.
2
Knowing trump frequently stiffed contractors, bankrupted his enterprises in the past, this is his common practices, his true and only color: con man. He is the “chosen one” to bankrupt the country in every sense.
5
Hey, here's an idea! Maybe the so-called president and "artful businessman" could erase the deficit by suing our creditors and not paying contractors -- just like he's done in his "successful" businesses!!!
3
Trump's deficits are nothing compared to the mega-deficits that will follow the Blue Tsunami in 2020. The socialist policies of the New Democratic Party will require the government money printing machines to go into warp speed to keep up with reparations payments, free college tuition, student loan forgiveness, monthly allowances for the 99% and all of the other give aways that the New Democrats will shower on their grateful base. The concurrent collapse of predatory capitalism and soaring U-3 and U-6 will reduce revenue flows into the Treasury....Lot$ more going out and Lot$ less coming in...Trump will look like a miser in short order. But, Democrazy will be worth it.
Thune talks about presidential leadership and congressional courage. He surely can't be serious; neither of these exist.
5
You quote the anti-Trump darling Justin Amash as saying, “There’s no incentive within Congress to keep the debt down.”
You give the politicians a buck to spend and he/she will find a way to waste two. The only way to control the congressional mismanagement is to chop off the flow of tax money form flowing into the federal coffers in the first place.
Trump is doing a good job at that. More power to him.
I am just waiting for KellyAnne C. to state with authority that the CBO numbers are just flat wrong.
You know. The "dark state" and all that.
She will then give the world her "alternative facts" showing that there will be no deficit.
All will be rosy.
just trust in trump.
He alone will fix it.
3
Yes, yes. Deficits. All very interesting. But for the vast majority of Americans, this whole conversation is utterly wonky and unintelligible. After all, there are smartphones to stare at and reality TV to watch. And when the Democrats inevitably retake power in our federal government, and Republicans start pulling out what's left of the hair from their old, white heads, the cries of hypocrisy will fall not on deaf ears, but on ignorant ones. Bread and circuses, right? We are not a well-educated country. If we were, people like Mitch McConnell and titanically embarrassing Donald Trump would not be in office.
3
Typical Republican, deficits and judiciary appointments are only for Republicans, repairing the damage is for Democrats.
3
Didn’t Trump, McConnell, Ryan, and the rest of the Republicans declare that their "huge" tax cut would be at worst revenue neutral? Whatever happened to that promise? How can ~90% of Republicans continue to support this total nonsense?
5
When the Trump recession begins one can only hope that the first to fail will be the Trump Hotels and other Trump properties. He is running the country just like he ran his companies. With at least six bankruptcies under his belt, what's one more with the country at stake. Oh well it will be for the next Democratic President in 2020 to bail out the country again.
4
Let me guess; there will be budget cuts. The neoliberal agenda will reign supreme and the deficit scolds, to borrow Paul Krugman's favorite word, will warn us of the perilous future in store. No one, save a few "far-left" politicos, will point to the military's budget and the tax-cut for the rich as the true culprits. Time to get ready for a massive round of calls for privatization of everything public.
1
Why aren't the news networks calling this a DEBT CRISIS like they did in 2010 when the debt and the deficit was lower than it is today ?
Shameful performance by the press, who are clearly siding with Republicans at every turn, despite the false cries coming out of the White House
2
The "stable genius" is neither. His record shows bankruptcies, shady deals and outright lies. Why should he treat the country any differently than his own finances? In addition to his detestable politics, his fictitious financing is dubious at best, criminal at worst. I fear for our country's future - if we even have one. (This dispatch is sent from Phoenix, Arizona, where the temperature yesterday was 116!!!)
4
If anyone remembers the 90s, there was innovation, low unemployment, peace around the world and a growing surplus at the end of President Clinton’s 8 year term... Frankly, I sometimes wish that we could bring Bill Clinton back!
President Obama, another wonderful President, inherited a great depression and was able to get us out successfully, gave us a much improved economy, Obamacare, The Dreamers Act and a Beer Summit for conflict resolution..
Now, under Trump, there is tribalism, chaos, growing deficits, trading wars, race bating, bad reported data ( e.g. revised unemplyment numbers lower than originally reported ) and a complete lack of trust on our institutions...
Conclusion: If you want positive action and a capable Presidency, vote Democrat!
3
Oh shucks no tax cuts for the rich!
When Obama increased deficit spending to recover from the last Republican recession he was mortgaging our children's future. I was told that many times by Republicans, I assume because they were told what to believe by the Fox propaganda channel. Now deficits are soaring, not to fix a problem but enrich the wealthy and to create a debt crisis. That is not a problem however because that will be the basis for the coming attacks on our entitlements which we have paid into our entire lives.
I have to admit that Republicans are right about something when they correctly surmised that their voters would never figure this out on their own. Unless Fox has a change of heart and informs them, they will just wonder why they can't retire or pay for health care after they do.
A country really does get the government that it deserves.
2
Where's the problem. Trump knows how to default on loans and walk away from them often making money in the process. In this case he seems to think he can have the US Government default on over $22 trillion and just like him walk away from this every growing liability. If he can it would be great for most of us but being an international CPA I do not think even he can do this. What do you think?
1
I cannot find words strong enough to express the sense of terror, the clenched stomach, that this article brings. This administration literally seeks to kill Americans, through reducing Social Security, Medicare and environmental protection.
The Trump administration deficit, brought on by their ill-conceived tax break for the rich, and unnecessary trade wars and tariffs, destroys, not just the U.S. economy, but the world's.
The U.S. is wealthy, but cannot sustain its government and services with a budget always in the red. Any government needs tax dollars to thrive. The Republican tax break for the rich reduced that amount by $430 billion annually, and will increase. Now they want to cut capital gains taxes further, another perq for the rich, and another nail in the coffin for America.
And speaking of coffins, Republicans want to reduce Social Security and Medicare, not roll back the billionaire tax break. Those funds are what I will depend on in the future, like millions of other Americans. I've paid into them over my working life, and am estimated to receive "not enough to live on in the U.S." at age 70.
Fiscal responsibility and humanity have been abandoned by Republicans. They play dirty and they don't care. They follow their leader, a guy with zero scruples. They vote only to protect the rich, and care nothing for the fate of 90% of Americans, or the planet.
Democrats need a candidate who can triumph over Republican lies, because, they must be voted out.
1
When the Democrats once again control Congress and the White House and once again have to begin the exhausting job of cleaning up the fiscal mess left by the Con Man, I hope they will GUT the military budget by 50% or more.
Be audacious and focus solely on military stations in RED states. Get rid of every one of them and throw the population out of work. Get rid of every contractor which operates out of RED states. Cause financial pain in RED states and those that voted for this Con Man. That is my hope.
1
“There’s no incentive within Congress...”
And amongst each of US?
“They never feel they are going to be held accountable...”
And amongst each of US?
Republicans bankrupt us by using our dollars to line their coffers, yet somehow manage to lie they’re way back into power to bankrupt us again.
1
I still believe the only deficit Trump was worried about was his own and his familiy's . I believe his policies have successfully solved that deficit issue.
Show us the tax returns
2
Headline in Washington Examiner says the Trump/Pelosi budget sent the deficit soaring. Cute. I guess those tax cuts are paying for themselves [don't they always ?] and its the budget [that had to get through the GOP Senate] that's the problem. As always its the Dems fault.
Trump went bankrupt in an industry where the house always wins.
If you're surprised that he's going to bankrupt the U.S. government, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.
By the way, this year is the first in 20+ years that I've had to send a payment in with my tax return. No more Republican "tax cuts" please!
2
Trump declares bankruptcies when he runs out of cash. Perhaps he has set America on the same trajectory.
1
I am good at math. In the 1960's I got a perfect 800 on the advanced math SAT subject exam. At Cornell I majored in quantitative ecology - described by LaMont Cole, then the greatest practitioner of the subject, as "How do you count something when you can't count it". And even more relevant, as an officer of Marines I specialized in artillery, and was rather good at fast and accurate guesstimates that put rounds on target. Although this year's deficit estimate of $960 billion is horrifyingly large, and fully 25% bigger than the GOP's record breaking 2018 deficit, it looks fake to me. I have no inside information. I realize that low interest rates have reduced the deficit by many tens of billions of dollars. It's obvious that many Republican deeds, such as deregulations that will lead to widespread costly troubles, and especially the sugar high of the tax cut, put us currently in the boom phase of boom and bust. But as I follow the news, I cannot see how this year's deficit could possibly be less than a trillion dollars. I must suspect that the executive branch is feeding the Congressional Budget Office massively faked figures to hide, at least until after the 2020 election, how bad it really is.
After all, that's what the GOP is massively doing with scientific facts on climate change. And Trump is eager to lie about everything from how big his (minor, compared to Obama's) inaugural crowd was to how many millions and millions more votes he claims he got than were counted.
3
I don't think that another recession is mandatory or that Republicans must go down with the ship. However, they appear to be lemmings willing to sacrifice their country rather than change course. Sad!
In his past life, Trump solved financial problems by not paying contractors and declaring bankruptcy. Then he borrowed money from Deutschebank--the only company that would lend to him and probably underwritten by Russian loans. Why do Republicans think a leopard can change its spots?
4
Typical Trump- Borrow like crazy, then declare bankruptcy, then find someone else to blame. Trump/GOP will blame Social Security and Medicare, which means Trump/GOP will terminate those programs which we’ve been paying into. This is even worst than the traditional GOP trickle down economics. Instead of a few crumbs, we’ll be stuck with the massive bills from Trump/GOP tax cut for ultra wealthy!
1
America is paying the price for having elected the King of Bankruptcies as President. He built his personal "empire" by borrowing, borrowing, then declaring bankruptcies all the while siphoning money into his pockets, which, by the way is likely the biggest reason he does not want to reveal his tax returns.
3
“It’s going to take courage by Congress...”. Courage? Congress wouldn’t know what that was if it slapped them in the face. Congress for years has ceded their powers to the Executive branch, and this group is by far the worse.
Trump's tax cut for the rich will continue hurt our monetary situation as it is
1
The "stable genius" is neither. His record shows bankruptcies, shady deals and outright lies. Why should he treat the country any differently than his own finances? In addition to his detestable politics, his fictitious financing is dubious at best, criminal at worst. I fear for our country's future - if we even have one. (This dispatch is sent from Phoenix, Arizona, where the temperature yesterday was 116!!!)
1
This article has a super major problem. Fiscal deficits are the currency creation mechanism. Taxes do not fund federal spending. The fiscal budget has to have spening on one side and costing on the other [simple accounting ], So deficuts spending funds the government and federal taxing takes currency out of government.
The deficit is the source of spending, not the enemy as implied by this article. Spending is not limited by taxes. They make no difference. It cannot stop the spending.
The US economy today is poor due to inadequate spending as well as misdirected spending on boondoggles instead of welfare and education and infrastructure and healthcare. The public want these.politicians need to listen and act to resolve it.
2
The 2019 deficit is projected to be 25 percent larger than it was in 2018, and the budget office predicts it will continue to rise every year through 2023.
Are you also saying that the Trump tax cut for the wealthy and corporations isn't paying for itself? Trump's trade wars is affecting business investment and consumer spending, resulting in slower economic growth and fewer tax dollar going to the treasury.
Trump filed six bankruptcies and has shown an inability to really be a successful businessman. Without the money from his father, he'd be just another person with no job skills.
A sweeping New York Time investigative report said that Trump's father, Fred Trump, had actually lent his son at least $60.7 million. That the amount would be worth $140 million in today’s dollars and much of it was never repaid.
12
The government pays its lenders, not its “borrowers”.
Does anyone else besides me see the connection between the rising government deficits and the abandonment of American ideals such as the welcoming of immigrants to our shores or our commitment to our allies? My heart skips a beat every time I hear about a Trump plan to kill off immigration or insults our allies like Theresa May of England or the prime minister of Denmark.
10
Even he calls himself the King of Debt, so you can't fault Trump doing his worst for his successor, but the Stepford Wives Club, a.k.a., the Republican Party, not so much. Remember these sellouts used to oppose any deficit spending in the Obama years even when the circumstance called for it in the aftermath of the Great Recession, also their doing.
Timestamp this, if 2020 is back in the Democrat's hand, suddenly deficits will matter again. Not only it matters then, the Republicans will insist the country to fix their past sins all over again. So America, enjoy your good time while it lasts
8
it's pretty clear what the Republican plan is: Run up a massive debt by cutting taxes for the rich and pouring a trillion a year into our defense budget. Their cure will be to cut social security, Medicade, Medicare and any other program that is beneficial to people and not corporations. After they have punished Americans, they will blame it all on democrats, and Republican voters will believe them and, basically, will vote to be punished again. The corporations will then gain even more power, thus completing their takeover of democracy. But don't worry, because they have a solution: More tax cuts for the rich.
13
Where are our congressmen/women?
5
This is part of a Republican plan to create a crisis to cut Social Security instead of solving the problem by raising the income ranges where you pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. Vote Republican and be poor in your old age.
8
Keep the short time profits. Let the people finance his long term mismanagement. Absolutely no risk involved. Leader of the swamp.
6
Of course the budget is growing faster than expected. Trump says anything and knows nothing. He gets everything wrong.
5
What about buying Greenland ?
Where would have the government found the finances to hypothetically buy the island ?
Any common sense in the Oval Office or sycophant GOP of the consequences of cutting taxes for the rich ?
4
And Greenland isn’t even self supporting!
In my opinion, but with hindsight, President Obama made one mistake when he won the first time. After the disastrous W’s years, he tried to compose with the Republicans to bring back some kind of normalcy to the political discourse. The Republicans didn’t want this and did everything to sabotage his presidency even when it was clear to people who are not afraid of using their brain that such a behavior would damage the country.
The next time a Democrat will win the White House, I hope that he/she won’t repeat the same mistake and won’t hesitate to stomp the Republican into the ground. That’s the only language they understand nowadays and it may even inculcate to them some common sense.
8
here here to my friend across the pond. I've been saying for years that there needs to be no more mr nice Democrats. stomp away president buttigieg. either the GOP goes the way of the dodo or they'll take us all down. I'm done setting up chairs on the Titanic!
5
@Gvaltat
I believe the 1st thing Obama should have done (ie spend his political capital on) was to outlaw lobbies (dark money) in the election campaign system. With lobbies out of the way democracy is possible & affordable universal healthcare (as exists in ALL other developed nations) would be a reality now in the USA. This would be just one of the benefits.
Where are the so-called “deficit hawks” of the Republican Party who repeatedly voted away social programs for the poor and struggling because they claimed these would increase the deficit? Once again in almost all they do and say now they show they are the party of lies and hypocrisy. But will the American voters remember in November?
8
The concern here is that our economy will fail, similar to Trump's businesses, and that Trump seems to say different things at different times, which makes me concerns about our president's failing memory of what he said before. Could he be concealing a growing dementia?
6
Congress has forsaken their authority on budget and caved to a man who has gone bankrupt four times, including a casino. Can anyone be surprised?
7
...and bankrupting a CASINO? Not easy!
"longest run of deficit increases in recorded American history"
Well, there you go, Mr. Trump loves to have records, longest, biggest, 1st.
As to GOP being deficit hawks, well as soon as they have a Democrat in the White House they will be again.
3
Can we stop talking about Social Security being the problem. At this point in time there are know two SS trust funds. Let that sink in for a minute. That means there is more money being collected than is being spent on SS. Do you know where the excess goes? It goes into the General fund. The trust funds are given IOU'S that are collecting interest at 12%. Thats wright you get to pay back 12% on a tax that you already paid. We do not need to raise any taxes on FICA or lower benefits, what we need to do is eliminate the cap that is in place on FICA taxes. Eliminate the tax cap and you can decrees the percentage. That would be a win win for the economy. Millions of people would have more money to spend and the government would get a boost in tax revenue, from all the money being spent.For the life of me I do not understand why this is not even discussed. Why not have a "town hall " meeting about FICA taxes?
4
3 trillion.
and yet we have have how much that comes in thru oil production?
you can tap a few wells call it G.O.P.
Government Oil Production charge 2 bucks a gallon,
and probably bring that deficit down by a trillion alone
in a few years..
but those that run the show aren't interested in saving
the country... they have more than enough in saving
themselves already
Donald Trump's policies are sowing the seeds for a Serious Recession of the US Economy. And once he loses the 2020 elections to the Democratic Party, he will blame the Democrats for the economic crisis that will inevitably happen, with the normal delay, due to his own policies.
4
We must get the deficit under control to avoid certain chaos in our communities and businesses. This will require both discipline and care, and it cannot be accomplished by the political class -- persons who care more about getting re-elected than about proper governance. Term limits for those in office, a return to citizen government, is probably the only way forward. Otherwise, we are heading toward severe reductions in government, out-of-control inflation, or both.
6
That Obama! He added so much debt over the last two years.
21
Oh yeah, besides no tax cuts for the super rich, it was all him’s fault!
21st of January 2021, President Biden (or Warren) officially starts a term in office.
22nd of January 2021, Fox News pundits start screaming non-stop about the “deficit”, and former senator Mc Connell is hired to run his own Fox TV show “Deficit doomsday countdown!”, at which countless Republican politicians are invited to speak about the horror of the “Democrat deficit”. And the brainwashing of the masses begins.
Rinse and repeat.
39
Just as Trump went bankrupt so many times, he jas helping to bankrupt this country. Then what?
14
Another corner he's painted himself into -- nothing left in the kitty for a stimulus after goosing the economy with a tax cut when the economy didn't need it. Just like in Iran, North Korea, China...he's on a roll. Bankruptcies everywhere you look...
11
Trump will continue to peddle more tax cuts for corporations and the rich because it will benefit him and the republican's endless calls for "small government".
The corporations and super rich will continue to hire lobbyists and rake in millions to benefit their narrow interests. The tax-shrinking policies are part of the republicans larger plan for small government. The plan is to deplete our treasury down with endless tax cuts and rising deficits so there is little money left for any public good like social security, Medicare, affordable healthcare, infrastructure, etc which helps the middle class.
Tax cuts and astronomical deficits are all part of the republican plan of "small government". We are all going to suffer because of Trump and the republicans short sighted policies that will weaken us as a country for many years to come.
We have to take back our country from Trumpo and his suicide party. Get out and VOTE.
19
TAKE YOUR BOW
Psst. Hey! Trump supporters.
You wanted your tantrum, you got it.
You wanted to blow it all up, welcome to the rubble.
You disliked Obama but-not-because-of-unconscious-racism, welcome to the whitebread con.
You preferred a con man to a competent woman but-not-because-of-misogyny, welcome to the empty wallet.
You couldn’t tell the difference between reality and Reality TV, thanks for giving us all a Reality TV president.
You couldn’t read the trend lines in a graph showing that the recovery happened entirely during the Obama presidency, watch how the trend line suddenly drops now.
You still can't tell the difference between an economy based on income and an economy juiced on a giant credit card, here’s what a bankruptcy notice looks like.
Time to go back to school.
Here’s a kindergarten book.
Start with the alphabet.
Write the word “deplorable” five hundred times.
Then keep writing it until you understand what it means.
But please, please, PLEASE stay away from the voting booth.
48
Thank you! That’s a perfect summary of my thoughts.
2
Deficit spending is bad only when it is used for the good of ordinary people.
When it goes for tax breaks to billionaires and the world's wealthiest corporations, the bloated military-industrial complex and the mega-farms of the farm industrial complex, deficits are good and even holy.
These days, with Trump "The Chosen One" in charge, we know exactly what is trickling down on us ordinary citizens.
15
Why is so much of this article focused on cuts to the safety-net programs that Americans pay into and not on returning taxes on the wealthy to responsible levels? Such cuts would harm tens of millions of Americans.
10
McConnell, Trump and the most other Republicans assured us the tax cut would pay for itself remember? This was not true as the Democrats, CBO and hundreds of economists stated at the time.
We now have increasing, unsustainably large deficits with full employment and a very good economy.
When the economy slows, goes into a recession, or interest rates rise we will be in deep trouble. This isn’t a game or a sound bite. Those living paycheck to paycheck will be most affected but a debt crisis has the potential to throw the whole country into a crisis we won’t escape for a very long time.
The billionaire president and powerful Republican lawmakers don’t care. They just want cash to get re-elected.
How we got to this level of government dysfunction is maddening. I only hope when the bottom falls out those responsible are held to account. Republicans, their operatives and media enablers should be banished from power for a very long time.
14
@Michael None of the tax cuts under Reagan, Bush or Trump will pay for themselves.
That will be left up to the ordinary people who don't benefit from the GOP's form of socialism and it's going to take a long time unless some of the cuts are reversed to the levels before Reagan.
Of course that won't happen under the GOP.
2
"The federal budget deficit is growing faster than expected as President Trump’s spending and tax cut policies force the United States to borrow increasing sums of money."
Not to those of us with even the slightest understanding of a balance sheet. Unlike Trump and Co.
8
VOTE. Democrats do a budget, and are humane. Republicans not so much.
12
I mean, dare I say raise taxes on the rich and increase infrastructure spending from the revenue generated while passing a minimum wage law so that vast majority of people have actual disposable income and can spend it in economies of scale to actually make a difference to the economy?
Quick! Every republican plug your ears, close your eyes, and start loudly making noises and saying ‘I can’t hear you!’
5
What did people expect when they voted for a man who lost money owning a casino?
22
The Trump administration, such as it is, continues to demonstrate their utter incompetence in every aspect of government. The Republican Party bends to his every incoherent statement and whim, as a ship without a rudder. He is without question the worst and most dangerous political figure to assume a leadership position in the history of the United States.
8
As they say in elegant Latin,"Fiscally Responsible Republicans My Foot".
5
And in another episode of “imagine if this was Obama”... After the uber-hypocrital Congress raised the debt ceiling, this budget may in fact double Obama’s. I’m sure this is tonight’s lead on Fox too.
4
Does this include funding for the wall that Mexico was supposed to cover?
3
There are two fallacies in modern econ- one is the trigger down economics supported by Reagan, Arthur Laffer, and Trump while denigrated by Bush sr. as voodoo economics. Under this theory, the total tax receipt will increase when the marginal tax rate decline and this incentive would make people work harder and provide faster economic growth, hence an increase in tax revenue. What actually happened is quite opposite, the government revenue decline which in turns ballooned the deficit. It also widens the wealth gap and creates social discontent and division. Then, the creative economists came up with another theory Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) states that deficit does not matter, as long as the government can print money and debts can be pushed indefinitely into the future. MMT assumes the debt will be held by foreign countries such as China and Japan and etc. are willing to hold the debt in the future; which is an unlikely scenario given the current trade war.
3
A skillful politician running for the Democratic nomination need only underscore and amplify these very same points between now and the first Tuesday in November 2020, ad infinitum, and (s)he will beat DT.
9
Thanks for the article. The deficit growing faster than expected solidly confirms the opinions of most of the professional economists including NYTimes Nobel Laureate that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the centerpiece of the Republican fiscal initiative, did not work as it was claimed and advertised.
I think the Obama Recovery engineered by the Federal Reserve seem to be coming along fine, so it might have been better to have not passed this tax cut stimulus. Clearly there was a stimulus but the net effect has not been positive for the economy.
The 2nd bold move: using Tariffs to address the Trade Deficit on a unilateral "America First" basis also appears to be failing because the trade deficit is increasing and the tariffs appear to be weakening the economies of our trading partners. In a sense we are losing markets and placing many of our industries in a world of hurt. The agricultural sector, our top comparative advantage, is being unnecessarily hurt. Our agricultural states which I understand were instrumental in making Mr. Trump our 45th, hopefully learned something from this experiment.
I don't think this can be corrected before November 2020 so I can't really see how it is in the stars for Mr. Trump to win a second term.
5
Lots of good information in this article, about a subject that, like climate change, undermines the nation's future while other headlines grab attention. Please note that Republicans, frequently portrayed as tough-minded in articles such as this one, are in fact the opposite. as they let voters off the hook, leaving Democrats in the politically unpopular position of trying to explain the need for tax increases and action on climate change. Running from tough issues, the Republican strategy is one of political calculation and consolidation of power that shows indifference to the nation's fate. Demanding financial restraint when a Democrat is president, in order to sabotage Democratic priorities, Republicans then ramp up the deficits when a Republican is president, in order to create urgency to cut social programs.
20
Enter the dismantling of Social Welfare entitlements. Former Senator Ryan saw this as a desirable outcome from the Trump Tax Reforms
5
If Democrats take back the Senate, hold the House, and get the White House out of the hands of the GOP, what will happen? Sure as God made little green apples Republicans will start screaming that Democrats can’t afford to spend any money to fix anything the GOP broke, because deficits. They’ll all be pushing austerity as hard as they can — and demanding more tax cuts.
Tax cuts do not pay for themselves.
Tax cuts do not grow the economy or create jobs.
Tax cuts for the rich leave the rest of us to pick up the bill.
Wealth does not trickle down.
Supply side economics supply nothing.
Austerity is the wrong answer to a recession.
Republicans are NOT fiscally responsible — they are looters.
Tax the rich. It’s us or them.
22
Can we have a one-day a week moratorium on Trump antics? Think about it! Just one day a week that journalists report deep background on everything he is destroying, unfettered by his latest nastiness? Americans would be so well-served.
6
Stealing from working people to line his and his "rich consumers's" pockets. America, we have been had.
6
@Allison - Yes but the ignoramuses in this country who didn't know that they were being had or going to be had right at the get go with Trump must be some of the lowest living life forms, both intellectually and morally. I still can't quite believe this new reality that darkened the door of our country in November 2016. I still just want to wake up and have it all be a petrifying dream. Pass the prozac with a whiskey chaser please.
6
I will never understand how the voters of this country allow this argument about how serious deficits will bankrupt us to work, only when a Democratic president is running the economy, but by some kind of brain deficit, allow themselves to ignore it when a GOP president (and a GOP-led Senate) is running up the tab.
Are we simply that ignorant about economics, or are we willfully ignoring facts? In either case, it makes for a poor case for the future of our economy.
7
@Merete Cunningham
Well, at least we know why the president won’t allow Wharton to publicize his academic record!
4
Time to rescind the tax cuts that helped no one who needed it. Time to give back the money for the political wall that will do nothing to secure our border. Time to pay back for all those golf vacations and wasting the taxpayer money for personal trips.
9
@kay Not just the latest cuts. Bush tax cuts are still account for a large portion of the national debt.
Republican hypocrisy on full display here...unfortunately, the method to their madness is to put laser-like focus on social programs all Americans need, while pumping billions into arms programs of dubious merit.
Trump’s spending reaching new heights is not necessarily due to his putting our fiscal situation on cruise control; expect Fox News to be putting out major blather about how Americans will need to shed all those entitlements, despite Trump lining billionaires pockets with thick wads of cash...sickening.
6
the party of fiscal responsibility by the way
5
We know what Mr. Trump did in the past when as a developer he borrowed and overspend beyond his means, file for bankruptcy multiple times. Since bankruptcy is not an option now, other than pulling a rabbit out of a hat, what will the chosen one do?
8
Old trillion dollar trump -
3
trump claims he inherited a 'lousy' economy even though it had created 16.5 million jobs before he took over. He ignores the plain fact that the nation is a darn sight better off from the huge chasm left by Bush when the economy was in absolute free-fall, leaving in its wake a record deficit of $1.3 trillion (an unprecedented unsustainable 10% of the economy) after more than doubling the national debt, and racking up trillions more in un-budgeted costs for two wars. Obama stabilized the economy while containing a chaotic war footing in the ME, and grappled fiscally with that massive deficit reducing it at a faster rate than during WW2 demobilization to a manageable $500 billion (2% of the economy). This was a remarkable feat to which trump is totally oblivious. Now in one fell swoop this so-called president rather than building on a sound fiscal construct is recklessly throwing it all away with deficits going through the roof and mounting national debt at unprecedented levels. This is sheer lunacy.
13
Great comment Rocky: Stop robbing the poor to pay the rich.
6
If the deficit is a problem and we have 300-something million people, why don’t we make a deficit tax of $1 for everyone and a couple more for very wealthy people to remove it?
4
@Richard Hannay
Pretty Smart!!
1
It would all be so scary, if it was real.
The Federal Reserve is a Kabuki theater. It always has been.
It's not a governmental institution, just greedy game-playing monsters. They don't wanna be called Aristocracy, as such people are in the public eye. They hide in the shadows, like cockroaches.
Bend, twist...
dominate, subjugate, control
--or people on their own imitate, emulate, accommodate, play along rather than thinking for themselves.
People are so easy used, even when those who do that kinda figure out, they're hurting others... they still don't care.
Bend into the institutional work, and PRETEND you ever cared about the wellbeing of everyone, when all you ever strived for was to gain the approval in an institution.
That's not brutally honest.
How many people approach problems, caring about the consequences/outcomes? for everyone?
If you're not one of them, you haven't even begun to think for yourself.
Isn’t the bigger problem that a big minority of voters across the USA voted for an incompetent used car salesman as president?
13
If you vote for Trump in 2020, you are killing Social Security and Medicare.
16
The outcome will be higher taxes, longer working lives, and less generous benefits for the next generation.
The deficit exploded under Obama who used fiscal policy/quantitative easing to end the financial crisis. Now, it’s for higher corporate profits for more jobs. The sad part is higher profits don’t create more jobs.
6
With the way Republicans deal with health care, we won’t have to worry about working longer or retiring. Who could afford to live past 65 without Medicare?
1
"I ran for office originally as part of this Tea Party Movement because we were upset with Republicans who've doubled the debt. We were upset with Republicans that bailed out the banks."
Rand Paul
1
@MJL
No one outside of Kentucky expects Rand Paul to tell the truth.
6
Time to cut fed spending across the board — defense, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, Student Loans, disability, education, energy, NASA.
I see a very sorry future for those who believe in the “freedom” lies of Libertarianism. It won’t be the small guy who wins, it’ll be those with money and power.
I can’t see it being too long before the US is back in civil war. Remove the support networks that barely allow the poorer class to have some semblance of quality of life and the pitchforks will come, mark my words...
7
Students loans net revenue.
More than 60,000 mental health professionals signed Dr. John Gartner's statement saying that Trump is seriously mental ill rendering him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States.
Today, Trump called himself the “chosen one” while looking up at the sky.
Evangelicals believe that Trump is like King Cyrus…the founder of the first Persian Empire; today’s Iran, Egypt, Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The Persian nation attacked Athens, Greece, birth place of Democracy.
Trump is being sold as a fake biblical character as well as a fake president.
Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus [NYTimes]
The month before the 2018 midterms, a thousand theaters screened “The Trump Prophecy,” a film that tells the story of Mark Taylor, a former firefighter who claims that God told him in 2011 that Donald Trump would be elected president.
At a critical moment in the film, just after the actor representing Mr. Taylor collapses in the flashing light of an epiphany, he picks up a Bible and turns to the 45th chapter of the book of Isaiah, which describes the anointment of King Cyrus by God. In the next scene, we hear Mr. Trump being interviewed on “The 700 Club,” a popular Christian television show.
As Lance Wallnau, an evangelical author and speaker who appears in the film, once said, “I believe the 45th president is meant to be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus,” who will “restore the crumbling walls that separate us from cultural collapse”
3
Watch The Family in NetFlix and it’ll all make sense...
2
Tell me again why so many of Trump's business ventures went bankrupt,...
5
@Jeff
Good question!
1
I am just waiting for his teeny brain to fall out of his ear. Then the GOP will have to admit he hasn't got a valid thought in his head.
6
Where did Republicans get a reputation for fiscal probity?
Every time they get in office they reduce taxes crank up defense spending and drive the country further into debt.
The only thing that is different this time around is that with a serial bankrupt at the helm they are doing it somewhat faster than usual.
12
This is where the Republicans, and some Democrats like Biden and others (check out his old speeches) see the light of fiscal restraint and the danger of deficits and go after Social Security and Medicare. So predictable.
4
So.Much. Winning.
9
If DJT had to put a quarter in a piggybank every time he blamed Pres. Obama for the ‘unfairness’ of his life, we could take a substantial chunk out of that deficit.
10
@itsmildeyes
I don't think he has two dimes to rub together.
5
Hasn’t anyone noticed that the trillion dollar tax giveaway to high rollers has effectively produced almost zero “growth” benefits and has driven us deeper in the massive deficit hole? Now the authors of said giveaway are pontificating about cutting “mandatory” programs that ordinary citizens rely on to reduce the deficit they just increased big time to grease the palms of their wealthy patrons. This will all happen, according to these monumental hypocrites, in the second term of an arguably delusional president. My sense is that there will be no second term, but there will be a tax increase to claw back the riches the plutocrats stole from the nation.
12
What happened to the "fiscally responsible" conservatives that constantly complained about Obama increasing the national debt and Obama's golf trips ? Obama was at least using the funds to get the country out of recession - Trump is just increasing the debt to give his billionaire buddies a tax break. And, trump has already spent more on golf trips than Obama did in his whole 8 years as president.
Trump and Republicans are bad for the economy, and spend tax payer dollars to benefit themselves, and their donors. We need better people in the white house.
9
Republicans should have to pay a very large "I'm with stupid" tax when they vote. Refundable only if they don't tank the economy.
9
Contact your representatives; tell them you want to get rid of the Electoral College! Tell them this country should vote one person one vote!
Find your house representative
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find your senatorial representative
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Adam Ruins Everything - Why the Electoral College Ruins Democracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90RajY2nrgk
In the meantime, more democrats need to move into the swing states.
Pass this around.
8
Putin loves this.
5
At this rate, the national debt is going to be 100% of GDP in 10 years. Trump enjoyed a Republican Congress for two years and did nothing to reign spending in. In fact, Trump and the Republicans in Congress did the opposite, they cut taxes and spent more accelerating debt growth. Not a surprise if you look at Trumps repeat chapter 11 filings and the dopes in the US Congress (Matt Gaetz!). Trumps tariff war with China and many of our allies is hurting the economy and pushing the end of the Obama recovery. The last president to reduce the debt by increasing inflows and cutting outflows was Bill Clinton (D) and he accomplished this with Republicans in control of Congress. After Clinton, president Bush (R), spent our money on wars resulting in a power shift in the Middle East that ultimately advantaged Iran and increased the national debt. Bushes multiple follies helped cause the economy to contract sharply pushing us into the Great Recession. At least with Obama we got something in return for our spending— the end of the Great Recession, energy independence, the winding down of 2 unnecessary wars, a strong stock market, and improved health coverage for millions. Republicans just haven’t been capable managers of our economy and haven’t delivered prosperity the way Democrats have. It’s ironic the Republicans are considered by many to be the party of business. Republicans are mostly just the party of business tax cuts (due to business group lobbying).
13
Just wait - the money is going to trickle down. I guess trickling takes awhile.
3
Since we the taxpayers are paying 3 million a week for Trumps trips to Mar a la go Florida that price tag needs to be told. We can’t afford 4 more years of this welfare for the rich. At least President Obama stayed at the White House and Camp David for much of his Presidency and saved us money.
7
All we hear while a Democratic President is in office is the deficit, spending and "entitlements" We have a severe revenue problem. This was a pure Tax Cut Entitlement! No skin in the game for the recipients. Our Democracy is now a Plutocracy.
10
So much winning!
What a great president!
Bigly.
People who voted for him, or now give him positive job approval, are on to something. A great winner we have in Mr President Donald!
3
Seems Trump is doing with our money what he does with his: Go bankrupt.
9
Trump is only worsening our financial situation with unnecessary spending by the government, and the projected excesses for several years to come will only further place pressures on the economy. His tariffs serve no purpose, and drag down our domestic economy, and the world as a whole. How can Congress sit back and do nothing. Our politicians are as bad as Trump. Is it possible to skip a recession and go straight to a depression. I don't trust the stats coming from the government. How can Congress allow the excessive reduction in taxes that businesses and the wealthy receive, and yet at the same time we continue to borrow in order to pay our bills. It is not reasonable, but unfortunately the path the GOP is taking.
3
The president is giving people like himself enormous tax breaks. In effect, he is paying no tax, giving himself a ton of money that he stole from our children. In a decade, our children will have to slave to make ends meet. In contrast, his children will enjoy luxurious lives of leisure funded by the money he is giving to himself and to them.
6
Remember, what was his name, the guy who balanced the budget? Oh yea, Bill Clinton.
18
I really don’t know how much more I can take. Day after day after day. Its just relentless. Can’t he ( I dare not speak the name!) give the American people one day, just ONE day of peace, without another outrage or embarrassment or humiliation to read about? I wish it were fake.
10
I've never been a deficit hawk - but, aside from how much this matters, this is just scary!
2
Start closing military bases ASAP. Waste of money...
7
Go Donnie GO! We can hit a quadrillion dollars if you work at it! Why not set a record that no one will break?
4
This article needs a major correction. Republicans never cared about the deficit. To imply otherwise is dishonest.
9
Donald the Liar, uspresident, is supported by so many voters who are liars or are too lazy to learn real effects of Liars’ words and deeds to come upon them.
7
@Josh
Fools and crooks are his base.
9
"Mr. Trump’s indifference to deficits has shattered his campaign promise not only to balance the budget, but also to pay off the entire national debt. And it has left his fellow Republicans, who pushed through deficit-reduction measures under Mr. Obama when the economy was still fragile, in a bind. Congressional Republicans have largely gone along with Mr. Trump’s moves to add more debt, even as they insist they will return to shrinking the deficit if Mr. Trump wins a second term in office."
Um...neither Trump nor the Congressional Republicans will do anything if he is elected to a second term. After all, Trump has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't plan to stop at two terms.
Now if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2020, the equation is reversed. Then those R's in Congress will be falling all over themselves to re-impose their Tea Party ideals.
So America...vote Democrat or vote Hypocrite next November.
6
I am writing “my poor grandchildren” almost every day.
9
Here we have it.
The rampant hypocrisy of the Republican party writ large. Deficits matter when you have a Democrat in office,but not so much when a Republican holds office.
Oh how I loath the Republican party. They'll take us into fiscal servitude to give their billionaire base another freeby, while burning the house down.
You know how we destroy ourselves? One tax cut at a time. Man I hope the pitchforks and the torches come out soon. The Uber rich have been looking for trouble for quite some time.
Maybe a different sun should rise over the private islands and the hidden bank accounts and sneaky jets and the hidden yachts over in Portugal? Maybe it's time to go after all the hidden cash and the lies and the gold and coin that's hidden around the world?
The rich are our enemies.
Don't you forget it.
13
@MeToo Pass out the pitchforks!
3
Trump said he’s the “Chosen One”?! Ok .. he’s gonzo! Kookoo! Not sane! America isn’t safe anymore.
10
Quick, call his Dad!
6
The Republican deficits are intentional. For many years, they have wanted to eliminate what they call "entitlements" - Social Security ad Medicare. Cuts to either program must be challenged in the courts. Revenue from Social Security and Medicare must not be used to pay for their tax cuts. Lyndon Johnson came up with the concept of the "consolidated revenue" budget to cover the high costs of the Vietnam war without seeking additional taxes. They are playing Lyndon Johnson's "consolidated revenue" ploy to the hilt.
4
The national debt was 20 trillion when Obama left office. The first 16 years probably contributed to most of the national debt and mostly due to the regime change wars during the Bush and Obama years. Trump rebuilt the defense forces as he claims and congress passed a higher defense budget.
Neither Trump nor congress tried to cut spending spending across the board. A lot of the debt is caused by wasteful nonessential spending and spending on over hyped government grants and contracts with inflated benefit. Trump promised to cut the deficit during his 2 terms in office he expected to be elected in office. If there is one thing the nation should unite on if he gets the second term is to hold his feet to the fire to find a way to cut the national debt by half.
2
You don’t yet understand that Trump cares about nothing and no one other than himself? What will it take?
5
Of course Trump has a plan to balance the budget. Cutting taxes for the rich was Part 1. Part 2 is a secret, but the Q people have heard about it and have told me it is simply brilliant.
9
Thank you New York Times for putting this article on the front page. Please remind people every day of this man's lies, every single one of his promises that are empty. And make sure people understand it's the entire corrupt unpatriotic Republican party that is taking our country down--The "fiscally conservative Christian" hypocrites bankrupting our country financially and morally. Dedicate the front page of the paper to a two column visual of every failed promise. Show the deficit growth, income inequality growth, hate crimes increase, gun death increase, climate change worsening, species extinction rate increase, increase in health insurance premiums, increase in abortions, increase in corporations paying zero taxes, CEO pay versus worker pay, etc. repeat this every week until November 2020. Expose the breadth and depth of Republican hypocrisy. An easy to read visual of Republicans by the numbers. Make even his most rabid followers at least see how worse off they are. And force those "fiscally conservative moderates" to find their brains if they have one. Rock solid evidence that the Republican Party is craven and corrupt. People must choose in 2020 the direction in which they want to lock this country. Responsible journalism and voting are our only hope.
12
TEA Party why are so silent? Is it because Trump the “chosen one” is speaking and you are listening?
14
so what happens if the dollar is no longer the reserve currency?
2
Can you imagine when, fairly soon, the debt hits $30 trillion and interest rates get back to "normal" ranges? Taxpayers will be paying $2 trillion or more a year in interest alone on the national debt. That likely will be about 40% of total federal expenditures.
Thanks, Trump.
7
He’s bankrupted many companies. You think taking down America is a challenge for this pro?
13
We could sure use that wall money Trump promised to get from Mexico about now.
6
I'll always remember the GOP's relentless outraged squawking about the deficit during Obama's presidency. And now- it's just ducky because it's their ridiculous incompetent in office. There will be consequences.
10
Trump and the GOP will do anything to win 2020....even sell America because they know that if Trump does not win 2020 then he is going straight from White House to the jail.
14
I really don't understand why people continue to vote the GOP into office when they have done the exact same thing to the economy and the deficit since I can remember (80's). I never thought someone could do it faster than Bush did but low and behold, Trump is doing it in record time. This plus whatever other havoc he has wrought on the Federal Government that has yet to be discovered.
11
Don't worry, the GOP will put forth yet another plan to fix the deficit by cutting social security and medicare.....ugh.
8
Trillion dollar trump
Time to return fire in the name calling department
7
I am old enough to remember when America was a great country. It was back in the days before Ronald Reagan was elected. There were certainly problems in those days. But the sidewalks were not cracked, the schools and universities were well funded and lots of folks experienced a better standard of living than their parents because of technological innovations and solid Union jobs. But once America decided to become a selfish nation, where tax cuts became more important than the public welfare we started on the road that has led us here. Everyone wants everything but no one wants to pay for it. I’ll cheerfully vote for a candidate that advocates resetting the tax code to what it was in 1965.
17
How will we pay for Greenland?
19
Borrow more from China?
3
Trump is right: I'm not sure I can handle this much winning.
11
For 8 years the GOP and FOX railed every day about debts and deficits. Now they are silent. Why is that?
19
Maybe Greenland is going to be buying us! I can't see how we're going to swim out from under this as long as a Republican is in office.
10
I will say it again as many people have,,, Republicans create deficits Democrats clean the mess,,,, in the process the richer gets richer the poorer poorer, its been the same for at least half a century,,,, and the Republicans laugh all the way to the bank.
20
Let us all remember in November 2020 how the "fiscally responsible " republican party let their fake president break the deficit wide open and sent our country into an economic tailspin not experienced since the Great Depression. But don't worry - these bums have squirreled away millions and they will be A-OK.
14
It takes time for a bad business person to be fleshed out. Here it comes. We tried to tell you.
12
The King of Bankruptcies Trump continues to spend the lower and middle class tax dollars as his 1% cohorts continue with their insane cash flow.
Meanwhile the IRS continues with the longest audit in American history. What a joke DC is.
18
So these reporters can say with a straight face that Medicare for All would require tax increases or more deficit spending -- but not mention the thousands of dollars healthy Americans already pay for health insurance, and the tens or hundreds of thousands sick Americans pay in these costs every year?
I guess those cost don't count as taxes? And replacing with actual taxes is somehow a "tax increase"?
13
@jrd
Excellent point, jrd. Excellent point.
8
This deficit is no joke it is a serious matter needs to be handled ASAP. I think the Republican party needs to focus and prioritize this deficit because this means they will have to strip the American people of certain health care benefits or benefits in general. This could've have been avoided if President Trump never tried to add unnecessary policies. His policies will cost even more money and it will continue to increase the deficit and it most likely will raise taxes. If anything this is based on the unnecessary spending of the Republican party. There is no need to reduce Medicare and Social Security spending when in reality it's all the money the Republic party and including Trump spend for their own benefits. Like Representative Justin Amash says that the they do not genuinely care to cut down on the spending. I think it's weak that the Republican Party criticized the Democrats on the deficit when they can't resolve the problem themselves. This country is desperate need of money not only for ourselves but to also pay back all the borrowing we did with other countries and trades. This economy has been on a decline for a while now and its getting worse with Trump in office especially with his wishes for a wall where will he find the money for that when we can't even pay back fellow countries. Also they want to raise military and nondefense domestic discretionary spending with no type of money to spend. The reduction of pay isn't going to help anyone.
3
The most recent U.S. population = 331 million.
Federal defecit = $1 trillion.
Amazing. The government is spending more than $3,000 per capita for the entire population. $3,000 they’re not taking in. $3,000 they don’t have.
What kind of stable genius did you claim to be, Mr. Trump?
“Financially” stable genius?
10
Republican hypocrisy is sickeningly disgusting
18
The national DEBT hit one trillion dollars in 1981. And in 2020 the DEFICIT for a single year will reach that mark.
Under this administration we will increase the national debt in ONE YEAR by as many dollars as we did in the two centuries before 1981. We are increasing the national debt by 4% a year.
As the US has never run a budget surplus, the debt always goes up, but this is really rather scary.
Benjamin Franklin said "Money owed to the people's creditors is no longer the people's money; it is their creditors' money."
The people now owe about $70,000 per person. A family of four owes $280,000, if the debt were divided equally.
In 2020 the national debt will increase by about $4000 per person, if my calculations are correct.
8
“Congressional Republicans have largely gone along with Mr. Trump’s moves to add more debt, even as they insist they will return to shrinking the deficit if Mr. Trump wins a second term in office.” Republicans think that the American people are ignorant? And extremely gullible? Maybe they do... just look at the second part of the paragraph.
6
Pathetic - and the blame belongs to BOTH parties. Drain the swamp? We’re not even getting any evaporation.
3
Get that 'liddle' fellow out of the White House. He's damaged and he's damaging our country just a fast as he can.
8
And the jobs market exaggerated ?
4
Trump will lie about this too.
4
MADGA!
Make America’s Debt Great Again!
6
Another lie of of Republican Party revealed.
7
Gee, how predictable. "My deficit is bigger than Obama's deficit"... and buying an island... and beating Jews
.. and separating families indefinitely... breaking a commitment on guns.... revenge tweets about allies... tariffs costing consumers $1,000 a year.
Yep he's out bigged Obama on all of these.
16
Perhaps I missed the numbers, which should be the point.
Jan. 2017 - the federal budget deficit?
Aug. 2019 - the federal budget deficit?
Mega tax cuts for the wealthy, our economy wrecked by unneccesary tariffs, rising costs of health care & college educations, uncertainty for future business.
Anyone with a small business or family finances knows - it results in bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy of the United States?
7
DJTrump has shown us how a farce the Republican Party is. If the Republican Party had a spine, it wouldn’t allow this Russian operative to be the leader they bow to.
The GOP will be paying the heavy price.
12
I hate to suggest we all come down to the level of Trump but he seems to have a "nickname" for everyone he opposes. Maybe it's time for the Dems to come up with their own campaign label. I suggest Deficit Donald
18
This deficit exposes the small government/balanced budget politics of Mick Mulvaney and other Tea Partiers, and Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party establishment in the Obama era. It was a cover for mobilizing white racial anxiety to attack social services for poor and working class people. Racism, the core of Trump’s policies.
8
This deficit is no joke it is a serious matter needs to be handled ASAP. I think the Republican party needs to focus and prioritize this deficit because this means they will have to strip the American people of certain health care benefits or benefits in general. This could've have been avoided if President Trump never tried to add unnecessary policies. His policies will cost even more money and it will continue to increase the deficit and it most likely will raise taxes. If anything this is based on the unnecessary spending of the Republican party.
1
What are you saying? The poor, the working class to pay for this? Have some decency....
Makes perfect sense. Trump is the Bankruptcy King. How many times did he fail? Now he’s taking that same strategy to the country. He said he made money on every bankruptcy and even while the country goes deeply into debt, I have no doubt that he personally is benefiting. The ultimate con man. Remember this, voters: Republicans blow up the deficit! We’ll be paying for Trump’s and Mitch’s inept leadership for generations. On the bright side, global warming might resolve everything.
11
The debt rose ten trillion under Obama. Not forgetting the 30 trillion the green new deal will add if the radicals get in. Let’s all hold fire on this before passing judgement.
@Hjb Obama did not add ten trillion to the debt. Check your sources.
5
Republicans break it Democrats fix it, Everytime.
18
If the fact that Trump is a traitor is put into the mix a recession or worse is his game plan. Putin will be proud.
5
So that’s about $3,000 per person?
And what portion of it is for useless weapons,
and things other than helping the poor and needy servivea?
4
My greatest fear of a trump presidency in 2016 was that he would govern in same fashion he ran his failed NJ Casinos... Remember his "I am the king of debt" quip on the campaign trail???
15
@Peter K
That and when he said he didn't pay taxes because he was smart.
7
Making America’s Deficit Great Again!
9
Well, he certainly wasn't lying when he said he'd run the country like how he runs his businesses; using other people's money to fund his projects, stiffing contractors, multiple bankruptcies and so on.
Goodness gracious, one of the few times he told the truth!
14
The budget deficit may be growing faster than expected, but it is not faster than the Republicans want. They want to spend government money by buying services from the Republican's corporate supporters. That way they can get to the point where they can say "we just can't afford Social Security and Medicare."
It is just a big effort to shift power and money from the 99.9% to the 0.1%. That has been the Republican, and to a certain extent the Democrat policy since Ronald Reagan. Both parties only answer to voters every 2, 4, or 6 years. They answer to the 0.1% every day. So guess who has the most influence.
We need either Sanders or Warren to change this. No one else will even try.
8
Krugman warned that Trump would tank the economy and that it would end up being a worldwide crisis. The problem with Krugman's columns is the people who read them already get it. The people who SHOULD be reading them don't even know what the New York Times and couldn't care less about some guy named Krugman.
58
Living in NJ, trump is a pariah. A deadbeat who never paid his bills, used his lawyers to threaten and bankrupt. Now he's on course to do the same on a National scale. A fraud, liar and worse, President of the United States. This must end in 2020. Doesn't matter what Democrat is elected, it could never get any worse than the blistering infection in office.
79
@al
Whether it is Republicans or Democrats plutocrats, same tyranny, different bells and whistles. Next potus may not be a minimus one, but the social fabric will continue to unravel. This paradigm shift is unstoppable.
1
@al
Plus he and the Republic Party "tax cut" bill limited NJ homeowner's deduction for NJ property taxes.
He pays NO Federal income taxes.
and committed decades of tax fraud.
8
who gave the last four tax cuts to the extremely wealthy?
it wasn't the democrats but trump and bush. big difference between republicans and democrats
7
What I conclude from your article is -- and you imply this without explicitly stating it -- if Obama was not president for those 8 years, we would be in surplus now and not wallowing in the red.
I agree. Obama's misdirected generosity like giving away billions to Iran, and millions to Palestine on the last of his presidency did not help our deficit.
@Bhaskar
Congratulations on the ability to read between lines that aren’t even there!
18
@Bhaskar So are you saying Bush had a surplus?
14
@Bhaskar Did you know Obama took office during the great recession, which started under Texan George W. Bush?
Did you know recessions mean less revenue for the country and when they are very bad require government spending to get us out of them (which started under Bush)?
Did you know that Obama didn't give a penny of U.S. money to Iran? No a single penny.
Did you know that there is no such thing as Palestine (not anymore anyway). Many countries supported a 2-state solution based on the West Bank and Gaza (but did not support the Hamas government). And the amount we used to support them was less than Trump has spent golfing over the past 2 years.
21
I find it somewhat astonishing that no one is talking about what a failure Trump has been as President. He promised to end Obamacare. He failed. He promised to introduced a better, less-expensive health care plan for America. He failed. He promised to denuclearize North Korea. He failed. He promised to fix our broken immigration system. He failed. He promised to revive the coal industry. He failed. He promised to support American farmers. He failed. He promised to build a wall on our southern border. He failed. He promised to improve our trade balance with China. He failed. And now he's met his latest failure: the attempt to . Trump is simply a blustery con man who never met a camera or a microphone that he didn't like, or conjure up a lie too ridiculous for even him to spout. And he's now asking us to ignore THE NATIONAL DEBT---unquestionably a failure as President of the United States.
65
@arturo
"...no one is talking about what a failure Trump has been as President..."
Where have you been the last two years? That's all that's been talked about, enough to fill 12 volumes of biography on this "stable genius."
Instead how about: no general strikes, no mass marches against this ignorant, vulgar con man/tyrant/ bully.
7
You're absolutely right that DT and the GOP have proved to be craven, caving into the Dems' obscene spending policies. We just saw virtually all of the Dems join with a few Republicans to overcome the objections of conservatives to massive increases in welfare spending.
The conservatives are right; spending is simply unsustainable. When the material hits the fan, it will not be pretty. And the fault will rest squarely on the shoulders of the left for spending us into bankruptcy.
Of course, despite record revenues, they will, nonetheless, blame tax cuts for the problem. Because while facts might be stubborn things, they don't stand a chance in a room full of socialists.
Ummm.... When Democrats are president, the deficit goes down. It was actually a surplus when Clinton left office. When Republicans are president, the deficit goes up. But somehow you can find a way to blame Democrats anyway.
10
Bush and the GOP crashed the economy by gutting banking regulations. Obama dragged us away from the cliff edge and saved the auto industry with the GOP fighting him every inch of the way. Trump coasted on his economy for 2 1/2 years while starting trade wars with EVERYONE and giving himself a huge tax cut. Meanwhile he uses his hotels to launder bribes from the Saudis and the Russians. He runs around threatening our allies and embarrassing us, while egging white supremacists into mass murder. Deny it all you want. It’s true, Boris.
7
Cut social services! Cut pensions! Cut healthcare, we’re going broke!
(Says every hypocritical Republican politician in the country)
11
“(H)igher than expected”? Yes, except for those who actually knew what they were talking about.
1
This is what happens when you elect a rich and educated grifter to the presidency. Will they ever learn, or is greed and ignorance the only thing that matters.
4
Oh, the Republicans are hypocrites? No way. Not possible.
1
We are deflating the common denominator: currency
We are stealing from those that work for fixed wages.
We are stealing from savers with low rates.
We are crippling future generations.
We are risking loss of the reserve currency.
We risk bankruptcy.
We are hurting US bond holders overseas.
6
Given all of this news, it seems perfectly reasonable to buy Greenland! Goodness, if the Mueller report wasn’t evidence enough, these projections should provide ample evidence that Mr. CrazyPants must go. Most Republicans, save the outlier Mr. Amash, postulate that a second term is “what we really need” to prove up the merits of their fiscal logic. The trove of Democrats vying for their moment to shine remind me of an arena full of bumper cars with 360 degree spin. We need leadership; a restoration of even an ounce of integrity, before this democracy is officially choked out.
3
Just read the comments, and you'd get some insight as to how Democrats get votes. Obama had deficits of at least 1.3 Trillion for EACH of his first 4 years as President, adding 9 Trillion to the debt when he left.
Did anyone here voice their displeasure at Obama's Trillion dollar deficits? Of course not, neither did the media.
And for the record, the Bush tax cuts resulted in LOWER deficits. We went from a high of 415 billion in 2004, to 318 billion in 2005, to 248 billion in 2006, to an incredible 161 billion in 2007.
2007, btw, was the last year Republicans controlled the power of the purse back then. Democrats took both houses in the 2006 elections, meaning fiscal 2008 was their first year Democrats controlled the power of the purse.
So, tax cuts work. they change behavior, something liberals could never understand.
2
What was the last Clinton deficit? Oh that’s right, it was a surplus. The Bush tax cuts turned it back into a deficit.
And ignoring the recession of 2008, which started when Bush was president, was quite an oversight, perhaps intentional?
6
@Sports Medicine
Your comparison fails adequately describe the economy that Mr. Obama inherited from George W. Bush — and the economy that Trump inherited from Obama.
The difference was night and day.
Conveniently leaving facts out doesn’t enhance your argument. And very important facts at that.
8
@Geoff
The economy was already turning over as Clinton exited. Everyone knew that. I was a trader on Wall st, and we were going short everyday. Bush cut taxes, and deficits went down. Gee, how is that possible?
You also seem to forget that little blip on the radar called 9/11.
I was in downtown Manhattan that day. ill never forget. Seems folks like yourself have already forgotten.
1
A trillion dollar debt, sounds worse than the world is coming to an end. Next an expert will predict the universe if infinite, like I can get that. Hysteria for the sake of hysteria is getting wearisome. I miss the news.
Let's hope the purity obsessed among Democrats understand completely what will happen to any social programs if Trump wins in 2020. If they don't get their progressive candidate and vote third party or not at all then I really don't want to hear anybody whinging about free tuition and whatnot and how the candidates were all the same or how the Dem candidate was even worse than Trump. At this point we're looking at losing stuff we already have. This means survival for a lot of families already below the poverty line.
3
Of course the republicans don’t care now. It’s only used as a cudgel against Democrats budgeting for programs that help regular Americans. The hypocrisy should not be tolerated by all thinking citizens. But I hold out little hope.
2
And yet the press and tv stations persist in saying people will vote for Trump because the economy is so healthy.
Nothing exposes GOP as a party of low scoundrels as their rhetoric and action of deficits when in power.
How about borrowing another trillion dollars for another trillion dollar give-away to super-rich ? If you are gping to bankrupt the country, why the delay ?
3
So Republicans didn't want to increase the deficit when our economy was in the toilet in 2008 but okay with increasing the deficit now when the economy is doing well?
Vote the Russian Republicans out of office!
9
Oh my, what a surprise.
Let's see what will happen next if China decides to start dumping some of its $1.1 trillion Treasury holdings in retaliation for Trump's new tariffs and his increasingly caustic remarks and incendiary threats.
Wow, I just can't take anymore of this winning, Don. Please stop, please!
14
Please, Dr. Krugman. I cannot read any more economically illiterate general comments about deficits. And household or DJT finances being the equivalent of the US budget.
I’m in total agreement that deficit spending to fund tax cuts for the wealthy are insane and deliver ZERO benefit to the economy. But we have a bunch of folks here who think that (a) governments go bankrupt as routinely as crooked and stupid real estate and casino operators, and (b) balanced budgets or surpluses are a good thing where government spending is concerned regardless of other conditions.
Yes, I’m in agreement that the causes and goals of this deficit are evil excuses to reward the rich and cut social spending. But not all deficits are equal. Had this incompetent and lousy excuse for an administration gone into debt for infrastructure spending that employed real people, generated larger gains outside the 1% or financed much needed improvement at historically low interest rates, I wouldn’t be looking at this the same way at all.
We need you on this, Dr. K. STAT.
10
@KkW, but the debt was NOT used to finance infrastructure or anything worthwhile, so could you please clarify your point?
4
@Emme I said all deficit spending wasn’t equal. A deficit that funded infrastructure would not be a bad thing. Jobs would be created. The country would be improved. A deficit incurred on tax breaks for the rich is not defensible. And tHe current deficit is due to a DJT and GOP give away. It did nothing to boost employment, better our country or address an immediate or urgent need. See Labor report on lack of job creation elsewhere in NYT today for further evidence that the tax cuts were baloney and did nothing for the overall economy or job creation. What will be even more outrageous is when this giveaway to billionaires is used to cry poverty on social welfare spending that benefits all of us.
Apparently, consumer spending underpins Trumponomics and I am hoping NYTimes will do some research into it.
How much do consumers owe on their credit cards on average and is it sustainable for another 5 years (assuming this guy is re-elected) ?
2
Trump announces that he will sell the United States to Russia for $1 trillion. Problem solved.
10
Heard a joke, while back-
“Trump wrote a book. Had 5 chapter 11’s.”
24
@E. Nuff
Very funny, but Trump never writes his own books. The reason for the all the chapter 11's is that Trump rarely pays his workers and many of the unpaid writers had to declare bankruptcy.
2
Lucky the man in charge is a Republican. Imagine if it were a Democrat---the Republicans would be tearing their hair out !!!
And who wants entirely bald legislators???
8
Payroll taxes go to the SS Trust Fund and not to general revenue, correct? In theory that should not impact the deficit. Of course, we know Congress raids the fund all the time to cover shortfalls (and hence their behinds), but let's be clear that that's a corruption of the statutory SS funding mechanism.
Also, Republicans don't "acknowledge" that benefits spending must be curbed-- that makes it sound as if such cuts are self-evidently required, which is in no way the case. Rather, what they "acknowledge" is that their objective is to starve the government of revenue, forcing benefit cuts to avoid self-inflicted collapse of the system while the plutocrats laugh all the way to their hedge-fund offices.
1
He’s run every other business he’s touched into the ground. Why not the US government?
13
Trump's businesses went bankrupt on a number of occasions due to gross egotism, incompetence and greed. Unfortunately, the same tendencies are at work now that he is in the Oval Office. His bankrupt businesses were bailed out by Fred Trump's wealth and tax shenanigans. But who will bail out a bankrupt United States economy?
6
This is the reason why Trump threw out that 'Greenland' shiny object.
6
Republicans rinse and repeat their usual cycle, lower taxes on the rich and corporations, spend on programs (mostly military) not beneficial to the 90% and run up huge deficits.
I expect to see opinion articles in the NYT from Douthat, Brooks and Stephens telling Democrats what they need to do about it and how we should be nice to the GOP when we do it.
6
"Debt" is a metaphor for over-population, as in "humanity's debt to the planet" ....
We can pay off our debt when we learn to stop over-populating.
3
The deficit mattered to Republicans when Obama was president. Now that Trump is president, the deficit no longer matters. However, what matters to Republicans are programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. My bet is that the deficit will again began to matter for Republicans after the 2020 election, regardless of whether Trump wins or loses, because the Republicans will use the deficit as an opportunity to renew their attack on the programs referenced above, which they have consistently detested.
364
@Robert Stewart
Why not? It has worked on America several times in my lifetime. It is not like Americans pay attention or actually care.
23
@gratis
One unintended benefit (yes, benefit) of Trump’s election to the presidency is that his irrational, incoherent behavior has caused LOTS of formerly apathetic Americans to pay attention to what’s going on in our government at the federal level.
Thanks, DJT.
You’re so squirrelly, we can’t look away.
19
This is a spot description of Senator Toomey.
7
republicans are deficit hawks only when Democrats are in charge.
16
I had no idea it would be so expensive to start another recession.
19
don't worry, as soon as a Democrat is elected, the republicans will become very concerned about spending and deficits.
19
Just as it took Nixon to go to China, it is the Democrats who will be charged with solving this problem. The solution will have both higher tax revenues and lower spending.
3
Really what do large debts mean to countries? Virtually all countries have massive debt with no hope of paying it off?
@John a
And Republicans scream murder when Democrats run a deficit.
5
When the memoirs are ghost written, we’ll know which is easier to bankrupt: a casino or a country.
10
Trusting this economy to a repeat inflater and then loser in almost every business in which he has been involved and his entertainer economic adviser is just asking for its collapse. Trump said it himself, he "loves debt." He doesn't pay his bills and he loves spending other people's money. Then he can't account for it and/or it was anybody/everybody else's fault. No "winning" here.
6
Well there you have it. Trump's effect on the US economy is as damaging as World War 2.
5
The issue is when Financial might reach its limit. One That occurred during Nixon era, Nixon abolished Gold Standard.
Because expanding monetary base cannot be covered by Gold , also you cannot print Dollar freely as you wish.
Now we have deficit, I believe deficit until the economy's pillars show some fundamental weakness does not matter.
But when it reaches there , it will be another 1971 needed, the only problem how you can overcome that bottle neck.
I do not see a serious recession in US economy, But I see some serious problems with world economy. That Trump factor is not helping at all.
1
Don't you just love how these GOP leaders continue to bemoan the cost of Medicare and Social Security when they don't have to worry about either one?
Hefty pensions equal to their salaries and treatment at the best military hospitals supported by the taxpayers. Why sweat the small stuff? That's for the little people.
The tax cuts and low capital gains tax benefit all of them. Unfortunately for us, we have reduced Society Security and Medicare to look forward to.
No wonder most of them are not too worried about the deficit. They are all going to do just fine. And if they can't. Well, there's always a cushy, highly paid lobbying job just by asking.
9
I wish some candidate would have the courage to admit that we need to tax enough to pay for our civic needs - instead of pretending those “needs” are really just unaffordable “luxuries” (you know, like Medicare and Social Security, infrastructure, clean air and water, a functioning court system, etc.)
13
@Pjcraig. We have a number of candidates who have said this: Warren, Sanders, Buttigeig, Warren, et al. Nearly all the Democratic candidates. What we’re up against is the arrogant myth of the “self-made” American—which at 70 years old ends up being the food service worker on the other side of the McDonald’s counter.
11
@Pjcraig
That is both Anti-American and Socialist.
Trickle Down is American. Ask any Red State.
Kansas is a good choice.
2
Waiting in the wings is Paul Ryan who will run for office in 2024 on a platform of reversing the "disastrous" tax increases implemented by Democrats to once again repair the damage done by Trump and Republicans.
8
Trump and his administration know less about economics than my dog. This would be funnier were it not real and dangerous.
11
"Deficits growing faster-than- expected."
Faster than who expected? One cannot commit budget harakiri and not expect bleeding.
Only those engaged in denial or intentional myopia didn't see this coming.
12
Um, that's obscene and unsustainable. A metaphor for this country, the world, as far as growth economics, and this administrations obstinate refusal to acknowledge climate change, the changing world, and all the necessary shifts we need to make to acclimate and still survive, let alone flourish. Bankruptcy presidency accommodated by shiftless Republican legislators that are cruising the power wave (lead by landlubber, archaic insect McConnell) and ushering all of us to be crushed by the tsunami wave of reality that is coming. As they sit pretty on the "hill".
3
Hundreds of billions more debt
Half a million fewer jobs
Obviously the BLS and OBM are on a witch hunt.
3
Balanced budget, claimed Trump. Just another LIE.
5
Does this mean we don’t have the money to buy Greenland?
12
@Eric Well, Trump has overstated the value of his lavish properties that many of us would not be welcome if we could afford the fees, so, he could sell the properties to buy Greenland.
1
Yikes, 1 trillion in 1 year? Back to Trump and his “word salad” of circular conversations to get off track again so the public is thrown off re the gigantic over spending and what is causing it.
4
More GOP fiscal responsibility.
11
Time to tap into his dad's other savings account...oh no wait...that one is drained already for last week's grandiose plan of self glory.
2
Democrats promise free stuff that the rich will pay for.
Republicans promise free stuff that no one has to pay for, and they'll cut your taxes at the same time.
Guess who wins that contest?
1
How did Clinton achieve budget surpluses?
4
@Brian, Clinton was the beneficiary of the first Internet boom, and he was also smart enough not to make foolish tax cuts. Guess what? When you cut taxes, revenue goes down and deficits go up. Only disciples of Laffer believe otherwise, and unfortunately that includes the entire Republican Party.
11
....And our pathetic presidents wants to give the rich more tax cuts.
This message on a $1 Trillion Deficit should play over and over and over again on Fox News and Trump's 2020 Campaign email solicitations where he labels Democrats as "GOVERNMENT SOCIALIST" (he uses all caps for this terminology).
7
Maybe Denmark will buy us
19
@New Senior Given our toxic political environment that would be a poor purchase.
4
Well he just doesn't know what he is doing.
6
@Vivien Hessel
Trump is a businessman. And a Billionaire. Mexico will pay for the wall.
2
We’ll show China who’s boss with those tariffs and then we will borrow more money from China to finance our debt ... that will really show ‘em!!
10
There is so much baloney promulgated by our fearless leaders on this. A few thoughts. First, I was surprised that Federal tax revenues have actually increased, not by a ton, but, they have increased. Spending has increased much faster. Neither party cares about spending levels. The Democrats are more willing to tax to pay for the spending. However, based on the current figures, if the income tax on one percenters were doubled, if estate tax receipts doubled, and corporate taxes were doubled, you would raise less than 1 trillion, or less than the deficit. (Do the math, it is true.). Thus, all of the grandiose spending schemes cannot be funded by the one percenters and corporations (and this ignores the negative economic impact). Thus, the Democrats have two choices, embrace the deficits will never matter bandwagon (dubious in my estimation), or raise taxes on everyone. That will be a tough sell.
@Robert, let's do all of those things. And now that Trump has somehow taken the best economy in decades and weakened its foundation, the Democrats don't have to promise anything. All they have to do is set back and let Donnie Dum Dum do what he does best, which is destroy things. Now we know how Trump managed to bankrupt his own businesses 6 or 7 or however many times it was.
3
Golly Gee wiz...I thought the GOP was the party of fiscal responsibility? I guess that’s only when there’s a Dem in the Oval Office. Imagine that...the stench of hypocrisy is overwhelming me.
8
No payroll tax cuts for the working and middle class, after the "job creators" failed to use their big tax cuts to create jobs that were (once again) going to increase growth and revenue... mostly corporations just did stock by backs to increase their profits and the profits of investors! Lowering the capital gains tax for corporations and the wealthy was NOT followed by eliminating the loopholes they already use to pay ZERO TAXES! In other words, just as Reagan and Bush pulled tax cut money out of thin air with no pay off, Trump has used the same old excuse: The tax cuts will boost the economy, jobs and revenue. Same Old Excuse. It's just another robbery of the taxes workers pay, that comes right out of their pay checks, while 60 of the Fortune 500 paid ZERO in 2018 -- Including Amazon that had profits of more than $12 Billion... due to the usual tax breaks, subsidies and other loopholes.
4
Wow. The federal finances look like those of a Trump Casino. No surprises here for those who have been paying attention and are possessed of a basic knowledge of economics and finance. And decades of Trump failures.
13
Nothing stopped (R) President George W. Bush from cutting taxes (AGAIN) for the rich, just before the "too big to fail" banks got a bailout of around $14 trillion... and then got back on their feet by doing things like illegal foreclosures of homes being lost by the 200,000 a week, who were losing their jobs because of that high-risk investment activities. Then Bush cut taxes during wartime, after giving Halliburton a no-bid contract to "handle" logistics leading up to the Iraq invasion. So, following in those footsteps, of course the Republicans put another tax cut for the rich as a top priority... and SORRY working close, I guess we can't AFFORD any more tax cuts due to the fact that the "job creators" did not create more jobs. They simple used it to buy back more of their stocks for higher profits. At least 60 of the top Fortune 500 corporations pay ZERO TAXES. (Total Corporate Welfare!) TRUMP: FIX IT~ That's what you promised the people!
4
Dear NY Times
This article (quote below) implies that the Republicans actually care about deficits
this is just nonsense; it is this sort of silly writing that leads me and many others to accuse you of "centrism'
quote
Congressional Republicans have largely gone along with Mr. Trump’s moves to add more debt, even as they insist they will return to shrinking the deficit if Mr. Trump wins a second term in office.
4
@ezra abrams "...even as they insist they will return to shrinking the deficit if Mr. Trump wins a second term in office.". It is just more smoke and mirrors which will never come to fruition. In simple terms, a GOP lie.
1
Remember when Republicans claimed to care passionately about the budget deficit? Sure you do, if you're a Democrat. They never tired of tagging the Democrats as irresponsible deficit-spendthrifts.
If you're a Republican, though, apparently you don't remember -- because Trump jacked up the deficit by irresponsibly slashing taxes for corporations and the richest Americans, and you don't have a word to say about it. I guess the "conservative philosophy" has been revised under Trump, is that it?
Just kidding. This deficit spending isn't a departure from Republican principles, it's the essence of Republican priorities.
Since the mid-twentieth century, Republicans have been scheming to get rid of Social Security, and later to get rid of Medicare. This is their plan at work. They're deliberately raising the deficit as a pretext for eliminating those social programs that are so crucial to most Americans; i.e., those who don't belong to the class of wealthy elitists to whom the Republicans cater. "Gee, we're sorry, but you can't have those programs anymore -- we're out of money!"
And Trump will dangle a cut in the payroll tax to the segment of his base in the lower financial brackets and they'll take the bait, not realizing that while he's doling out a vote-getting bribe (bribing them with their own money) with one hand, he's robbing them blind with the other.
7
Hmmm, where'd those pesky fiscal conservatives get off to?
6
As soon as a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans will regain their fiscal sense. LOL
11
I just saw the video of Trump pointing to the heavens today and saying, "I'm the chosen one."
Good god (no pun intended).
Congress needs to do their duty and remove this lunatic from office.
7
To be fair he has a record of bankrupting things:
Trump Taj Majal (1991)
Trump Hotel & Casino (1992)
Trump Plaza Casino (1992)
Trump Plaza Hotel (1992)
Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (2004)
Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009)
...and also to be fair other things he built did not necessarily go bankrupt...they just failed, imploded or otherwise died:
- Trump University
- Trump Airlines
- Trump Vodka
- Trump Magazine
- Trump Steaks (were they at least any good?)
- Trump Mortgage
- Trump: The Game
After all this it is no wonder he could only get significant financing from Russia. Now with exploding deficits did we expect anything else when we gave him the keys to the country?
(And don't walk away like you had nothing to do with this Mitch and Paul...that tax cut that accelerated this mess was on you even more than on Trump.)
11
Yup, now that he is blaming Obama again for everything that the self proclaimed "chosen one" has destroyed, when are the powers that be gonna take him to the promised land? Bring out the popcorn. Get the hook. 25th Amendment before it's too late.
4
That explains the tit for tat to lower interest rate so we can borrow more. When are we starting a war with somebody so we can take their resources or land and pay for this Crazy increase in deficit to settle republican campaign donors. We get what we wished for you know
I did a bit of research.
The most powerful, most expensive “weapon” known to man is the incredibly leathal mobile floating island, known as a NUCLEAR AIRCRAFT CARRIER.
At present, there are 31 nuclear aircraft carriers in service, or in condition to quickly be put into service.
Of those 31 carriers, nineteen are owned by the U.S.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s dream of global domination, but perhaps we are spending too much money on unnecessary weapons.
14
Those weapons were purchased before Trump's tax cuts. It's the recent tax cuts for the very wealthy that are setting this thing off.
3
“While lawmakers continue to talk about the need to reduce the deficit, it is no longer the kind of animating issue that ushered the Tea Party into power.”
One could argue that was never the issue that animated the Tea Party.
6
@Frank,
You are right. Tea Party spring all over the country overnight , ostensibly in response to fiscal concerns .
Their real motive was essentially to protest the elevation of a black man to U.S. Presidency.
And to be honest, all of us , people and news media and think tanks of all hues , color and policies never chose to acknowledge it .
Sometimes , it’s healthy to call a spade a spade and to shine some sunlight into our failings .
1
Budget Deficit on Path to Surpass $1 Trillion Under Trump.
How did this occur?
Trump' tax cut for his wealthy oligarch donors.
Trump's incompetent trade wars with China and Europe.
Trump's constant, pathological lies.
What is his next move? A tax cut for everyone? I guess this works if you are a self proclaimed "stable genius". or "the Chosen One".
And Congress is going to allow this destruction of the US economy to continue?
6
Trump promised he'd balance the budget.
Instead, he's bankrupting us like he does his own companies.
Congress needs to step up.
3
Excessive debt and eventual bankruptcy.
This fits the established Trump pattern perfectly— a gaudy facade hiding underlying rot.
And it’s passed time it was made the narrative of his economy.
5
Ruin the economy and then have a fire sale of America's riches--the crooks and billionaires will buy everything as they did in Soviet Union.
4
Let’s get Captain Bankruptcy to run the country!
4
Deficit Donald. In addition to his immoral position on immigration, his shortsighted view on the environment and climate, his criminal sexual actions, his economic calculations are irresponsible. Then again, narcissists don’t care about anyone else but themselves. And, Congress needs to wake up and do their job of representing the people.
7
I like that name "deficit Donald." or Deranged Donald. They both work. I wonder what were in his medical records that he had his flunkies steal? He definitely has mental issues.
We are all laughing at this idiot Donald Trump. He lost the election this week by backtracking on gun control, throwing our allies and stock markets into turmoil, doubling down on the imprisonment of children and families, insulting the entire Jewish community and giving Russia a pass to the G7 with no concessions! He’s nuts!
10
So much for fiscal conservatism. GOP motto is now, 'Bulid fhem deficits!'
2
Trump cares nothing about the country's debt crisis. He will gladly add to it in hopes of being re-elected. He has no intention of healing or helping the country. He will blame all of his stupid actions on Obama and Hillary.
5
Listening to Trump reminds me of the angry, out of touch make believe tough guys who had a solution for everything and deep knowledge of nothing.
12
Now how to exPlain this in plain speak to the deplorables who voted for him
4
@Eastbackbay
Could we please lose the "deplorables" pejorative that Hillary stupidly indulged in at an appearance in Manhattan for a group of gay supporters? Every time you use it, you confirm Trump's supporters in their allegiance to him. Is that really what you want to do?
Thanks Republicans.
7
So. For the accomplishless Trump, it all comes down to one key ploy. Can he convince the Danes to sell him Greenland, yes or no?
If the beleaguered president does strike a deal for the world’s largest island, including ALL the worthless coal hidden beneath its permafrost, the resultant confusion will completely overwhelm the Democrats. The 2020 presidential election will slip through their addicted-to-logic-and-reason fingers.
Four more years of Trump. 20,000 more misleading statements. Plus an endless spiral of increasingly improbable executive orders, culminating in Trump being crowned Emporer of Greenland and the Outer Isles. (The Outer Isles is, of course, the US and A, minus Puerto Rico.)
Trump rules North America from his ice palace, until he passes away (polar bear attack) in 2053.
On the other hand.
If the Greenland deal falls through, look for DT to try something nutty.
No guess what.
1
@Tom W
Don’t ya see?
“Greenland” is the key!!!
No matter how many lies Trump tells. No matter how many campaign promises he fails to deliver on. No matter how many ridiculous excuses he offers. No matter how disasterous his plans turn out.
He ALWAYS has another hare-brained scheme up his sleeve.
Trump knows no shame.
“Space Force.”
“Let’s buy Greenland.”
“That’s it! That proves I’m innocent of ALL wrongdoing.”
When is this country going to simply call a madman, a madman?
The economy is teetering on the brink, so Tariff Trump says, “Let’s buy Greenland.”
Right? Makes sense, doesn’t it?
TO WHOM?
It is time to apply the 25th Ammendment to our unbalanced president.
2
A person making 50k pays 36 dollars a year of their taxes to keep 40 million americans fed with food stamps.
Same family pays 800 dollars a year out of their taxes for corporate welfare.
It's well past time for a revolution.
The Dccc , Dnc and Democratic party stops us from getting Bernie's vision of a revolution you will be seeing the other kind of revolution.
6
This huge annual deficit and ballooning of the National Debt is all on Trump and his outrageous Treasury giveaway to the rich to the tune of $ 1.5 TRILLION
8
Pay close attention to the man behind the curtain.
5
I’m waiting to be trickled down upon. Oops, sorry Donnie and GOP, I guess you’re doing that to me now. And where’s my brolly?
6
Even as the Obama economic growth cycle continues to pull along despite the stupidity of Republican policies, Donald “King of Debt” is piling on debt making the job the Democrats fave in 2021 that much more difficult
3
Where's the Tea Party now? Looks like it's time for a little action.
2
Where's the Tea Party when we need it?
Crickets.
Oh, this president is Republican. Now I understand.
5
The tremendous deficit increases for this year and next year point to the possibility of disaster.
Any day the US might fail to borrow enough from capital markets, just an accident. China could hit us too by decreasing its purchases of US treasuries.
No wonder the capital markets are down. This is incompetence of the highest order
249
@Yoandel Nonsense, China has not only decreased their purchases but reduced their holdings over the past few years, which were quickly gobbled up in the open market. Also, the Fed would step right in to buy them. China holds such a small % of GDP
1
@Yoandel Well, Trumps brain drain administration (the well has long been dry) wants to increase the deficit to whatever the price tag for Greenland is? How much is Greenland worth? One-hundred trillion? Do we buy the 50,000,000 citizens who live there too? Wow, Republicans are hilarious--they love Trump and are on the Trump Train---the loco locomotive. Toot! Toot!
23
@Patrick McCord This has nothing to do with Democrats. Trump and the Republicans are to be fully blamed for Trumps tax cut for the Rich at the cost of America's future.
24
The president and his economic peanut gallery have repeatedly shown themselves to be unknowing and incompetent. Most of those folks in our society who are at the levers and buttons of the economy dismissed these silly people a long time ago. Yet President 45 has the bully pulpit and we must endure his ignorance.
Here's a better plan: (1) progressively eliminate most or all of the tax cuts that went into effect last year; (2) increase the income tax on the top 5% of wage earners; (3) restore the estate tax to recapture from the largest inheritances a higher percentage of value than is currently captured; (4) increase FICA to include slightly higher taxes on all workers with an increase to the ceiling of wages subject to tax; (5) increase the Medicare tax slightly to alleviate the strangle on monies paid by the federal government for healthcare; (6) slow the growth of Social Security expense via combined increase in the full retirement age (with allowances for certain livelihoods that impair income earning potential over the age of 60) and reduction in cost of living allowances; (7) permit those aged 60 and over to buy into Medicare; (8) reduce Defense spending via elimination of strategic and naval investments that serve no tactical purpose other than to provide dollars for House and Senate members in their districts.
Start with those items. Stop spending money, in a time of economic expansion especially, that we don't have. Stop robbing the poor to pay the rich.
326
@Rocky Your comments are right on. Run for office? No, too realistic for this fantasy world.
15
@Rocky
I would also add - the government should invest part of the SS funds in a broad market index fund instead of US treasuries.
10
With exception to #6 (we can solve Social Security by increasing the contribution ceiling to, say, $1,000,000 per year, and then we needn't adjust downward the cost of living adjustments), you are spot on. We recovered from the disaster that was Bush II, which was 8 years on the making, and now have time to avert an even more catastrophic one. We must Vote! Keep the house, gain the Senate and Executive.
33
Per Vice President Dick Chaney's lips "deficits don't matter."
So how come interest rates are tanking when macroeconomic theory says they should be rising due to the so-called crowding out theory?
Personal finances are not related to government finances in this bizarro world we have. Please quit trying to think along the lines of debt is bad. Invested debt is good especially when money is free.
Look the Fed still has 4 Trillion dollars (from QE1, 2 and twist) on it's balance sheet which means 4 Trillion outstanding in cash and equivalents (printed money). Interest rates are at record lows. Its like we already have a ton of cash sloshing around in the financial system.
If it pays for the government top borrow well lets borrow but not to enrich the wealthy. Let us do infrastructure and high speed rail. Let us do something about healthcare (and those monopolies). It pays to INVEST right now!
This is one big 'a' bubble we sit on...... Use it America!
45
@Chris Patrick Augustine
Any debt is only as good as the ability to pay it back. At this rate we are acting more like Argentina, Greece or Italy. And we look like fools.
During times of prosperity, logic says that a country should be running a surplus. Think Bill Clinton. OK, now stop thinking about Bill Clinton :)
During times of difficulty, logic says that a deficit makes sense to stimulate our way out of recession. And part of that stimulus would come from a rainy day fund. States do that - my state has a few billion set aside.
The only reason this has been allowed to happen is that there has been no political will to act responsibly. The poor have been convinced that the rich need more money so it can trickle down on them. Scam of the century.
You are right. There is plenty of money out there. But its in the pockets of the ultra wealthy. Time for a claw back. The Bezos and the Waltons have MY taxpayer money. I want it back for my country.
5
No worries. Trump promised to wipe out the deficit in 8 years, right?
97
@Brian You underestimate Trump, he's investing in the world's greatest rug. It has the best gold trim. And he's going to build a broom so amazing that no one's ever seen it before, and sweep that deficit right under that rug! Believe me it's amazing!
14
@Brian Yes. Filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It's Trump's familiar territory.
12
Thank the Red States, the debtor states, the ones that are always on the dole, for electing the Congressmen who led us to the path of Fiscal Responsibility.
Their collective GOP wisdom seems to result in recession every time they have Congress. Then the Dems have to bail the country out. Then the country votes in the Fiscally Responsible Party, the ones that know how to run the economy.
How many times already? Do we go back to FDR, or even before?
Lets us make the whole country like Southern States. Helpless, except for their votes.
28
Where oh where are fiscal deficit Republican Hawks that hounded everything Obama proposed for eight years. They have turned into little chicks in the trump party nest. Barely a peep out of them as he blasts the deficit into new height's for this year and years to come. How much do we pay the farmers next year?
24
We can all be thankful that the party of fiscal conservatism is going to protest this irresponsible spending binge...Immediately after a democrat is in the White House
15
Remember when the GOP and Trump bleated and brayed about the deficit under Obama and grandly bragged they would bring fiscal responsibility back and that Trump alone could fix it.
Well, here we are spending more money than taken in (in the world of business this would be irresponsible spending that leads to bankruptcy, something that Trump is so very familiar with) and Trump wants to find a way to stimulate the economy? With what money?
Oh, I remember, a cut in withholding so we can be bribed with our own money.
When Trump talks about failures I hope he is looking in the mirror as our deficit soars to new levels. Hey, that is a new goal and represents "winning" in Trumplandia.
7
Congratulations, Conservative Republicans!
You got exactly what you wanted. A ticking financial time bomb that EVERYONE knew would not help the average American (tax cuts), but WOULD result in a disaster right about election time.
So: right when America comes to terms with and repudiates your alliance with Trump, you’ve gained disproportionate control of the judiciary at the expense of being voted out of office-but thats actually fine in the long chess game you’re playing. Because now the potential Democratic government has no choice but to actually do something incredibly unpopular: raise taxes across the board and probably cut services as well-making everyone unhappy while cleaning up your insanely irresponsible mess.
Which puts you in a nice position for the following cycle to rally around the inevitably necessary tax increases.
Republicans have been idiots since Reagan, even while lauding him and his tarot card reading wife as some sort of messiah.
Welcome to America, where All Good Sheep hear, think, and repeat soundbites as Gospel fact, parroting the platitudes of others instead of learning how this complex world actually works and accepting a little personal responsibility for the health of the Republic.
21
By using phrases such as “Trump reverses himself” or “Trump retreats” or “Trump contradicts himself”—
You give him the benefit of the doubt, when in fact the common denominator is incessant pathological lying, essentially every time he opens his mouth or twitters his finger.
19
@srwdm I believe the responsible media needs to just call it what it is when Trump reverses, retreats or contradicts-Trump lied again.
Trump doesn't sugar coat what he says, so, neither should we.
5
Since we are sorely in need of money to pay down our deficit, Maybe we can sell a few states to Denmark. Let’s start at the beginning of the alphabet...Alabama, Arkansas...are you listening, Denmark?
15
Republicans pretending to be fiscally responsible while giving us a trillion dollar deficit; and at the same time, trying to court Jewish American voters while spewing out all kinds of racism. I know some of you will say thats just Trump. But Trump is the GOP now. They all own this.
6
Sheer hypocrisy
8
If donald is the "King of Israel" can't he just change his hair color or something and make the deficit just go away?
4
@KC Maybe click his heals twice and snap his fingers and the deficit disappears.
Isn't that what omnipotent kings do?
Thank god Gen Xers are coming to power.
Baby Boomers. What a dissapointment.
16
#WorstPresidentEver and proves it daily. Can we seriously survive this maniac?
8
@RSMMathews
Don’t know. What’s the alternative?
1
And true to trump's own credit/real estate history, he wants to buy Greenland while he's bankrupting the US. Scottie - beam him up - either him or those of us who desperately want an adult in the White House. And we called W. the village idiot....
4
So many people waiting for 2020. What we really need is to bring back the guillotine.
20
I am so tired of hearing we need to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits to reduce the deficit. Because government and corporate financial mismanagement caused so many investment shelters, like 401Ks, TSPs, IRAs, CDs, etc., to fail, Social Security has become the only income for employees forced into retirement. Medicare and, in some cases, the non-guaranteed Medicaid are the difference between a healthy retirement and, literally, poor health and death. Talk of diminishing these programs indicates that the government, i.e., Republicans and the cWHr, is willing to abandon two-plus generations and an upcoming third generation and all future generations to pauperdom and, yes, death. Ex-Representative Ryan's push to turn management of these programs to the private financial industry certainly won't work. The private industry is in it only to make money and has definitely shown its inability to manage anything by causing recession after recession. The only real answer is to make corporations and the elite one-precenters pay their fair share of taxes. It's about time Americans demand that the yokes of taxation placed on workers and retirees be eased by taxation on the rich and privileged.
8
No one making under 500k should pay more than 15% in taxes. I currently only take home 65% of my paycheck. That’s not ok.
1
@J Sorry bud. Your 35% on 200 G is about right. The price of civilization. In a civilized society.
If you knew everyone else were paying their share you may not feel so hard done by. But you live in America. What you just said is what they want you to say and think. A set up for conservative misdirection.
Maybe you don’t live in a civilized nation?
6
The GOP only cares about deficits when Democrats are in office.
If we can't cut the deficit, much less the debt, when the economy is going strong, we'll never be able to.
5
O K since most of that money went to the wealthy - can I coplain about welfare for the rich? Can I ask for a rebate?
What about the promises that it wouldn't bust the bank? Wasn't there some clause that if the tax cut (for the wealthy) cost more than promised, that there would be some rollback?
Sorry, but Elizabeth Warren is right. A wealth tax is not only needed, but also fair to fix this gigantic mess that Trump and the republicans foisted on us.
9
Policy and plans on the fly, as usual. Can't anything be thought about before announcing it, then reversing it? It's just exhausting to think about all of the reversals Trump has come up with just in the last week.
3
Why is it that the Republicans are always operating in the red and leave it to the next Democratic Administration to fix it. Of course with Trump in charge we can expect the Government to declare bankruptcy before year's end. Now that would be something to be remembered for.
6
Debt reflects our belief in the future. Deficit spending however maybe a sign that we are throwing a party because we think the the future is going to be so bleak we can't change it. Our kids are completely (insert your word choice here)d.
4
@the downward spiral. I totally agree. The idea that America is broken was present throughout Trump’s campaign.
Just take the slogan: “Make America Great Again.”
If Americans in general, and the reactionary populists that support Trump in particular, had any perspective regarding how good we actually have it, they wouldn’t be treating the budget as a dumpster fire.
1
On January 24, 2013, Paul Krugman wrote:
"President Obama’s second Inaugural Address offered a lot for progressives to like. . . . But arguably the most encouraging thing of all was what he didn’t say: He barely mentioned the budget deficit."
"Mr. Obama’s clearly deliberate neglect of Washington’s favorite obsession was just the latest sign that the self-styled deficit hawks — better described as deficit scolds — are losing their hold over political discourse. And that’s a very good thing."
And now the roles of deficit scolds are reversed? Democrat President deficit spending good, Republican President deficit spending bad? The American people are getting double talked to financial ruin. Our budget deficit has been and continues to be outrageous, and all the while Orwellian double speak is bandied about.
1
Fine. But what about the GOP that made a big deal of deficit during Obama’s terms? Why are they now muzzled? After all Dems are branded as party of spending but what about GOP who’s mantra is less spending? They are bigger hypocrites here.
147
bkd, you neglected to mention that during Obama’s 8 years, the deficit declined steadily and the county staved off a depression. There’s simply no comparison. Our current situation (ballooning deficits during economic expansion) is a disgrace.
19
You’re kidding right? The GOP tanked the economy and Obama had to clean it up. I wish we allowed free markets to work. We can use a lot less employed farmers and coal miners.
9
Well, Trump has boldly claimed before that he is the "KING OF DEBT." I think a trillion dollar deficit validates that, indeed.
6
I asked a friend born in The Netherlands what his native country does to avoid horrid debt and national long term debt. He states that European news has laughed at the group of US companies that this week said they want to pay less attention to the share holders and more to the customers and community. They call that an out and out lie.
Here is his answer to our debt problems: (in quotes)
"--manage the country better, the Germans do it even better than the Dutch, so do the Swedes. Tax people and companies, do not spend too much. Above all, cut corruption. Attach\k politicians continuously for getting soft jobs after government services. Publish the names of those that stay away from cushy jobs after their service, praise them.
Be honest, do not let yourself to be corrupted and do not pay Jamie Dimon so much money. A GP is paid maybe $200,000 a year, but he has to handle est. 5000 patients in his core practice. Have excellent paved roads, do not have contractors pay off local town councils.
Above all, have an educated population where many, many people speaks other languages and visits other countries.
Frank, what languages do you speak outside English, which is a language made for obfuscation, deceit, vague comments and cheating. England is a good example of this. Keep reading about BoJo and Brexit and you learn how bad English is used, lying and stealing.
Have meaningful elections using proportional representation."
5
Democrats nationwide need to promise the voters enormous tax increases. That’s the winning ticket for a 2020 sweep!
1
"Conservative groups — which largely supported Mr. Trump’s tax cuts — have pushed Congress to cut future deficits by reducing benefits for federal health care and retirement programs, like Medicare and Social Security."
And there you have it! That was their plan all along: explode the debt and then use that as an excuse to cut the social safety net. Republicans are so predictable (and despicable).
5
No Republican can honestly claim that their party is the party of fiscal responsibility. With the help of Republicans in congress, Reagan, the younger Bush and now Trump have proven otherwise. The Republican Party is the party of trillion dollar deficits and a burgeoning national debt.
2
The Obama administration and the CBO predicted $1T deficits by 2020, way back early in his second term, so this is no big surprise and it’s disingenuous to blame Trump. The CBO warned it was coming mainly because of the baby boomers reaching Medicare and social security age, putting a HUGE drain on federal finances. Congress and both political parties are to blame, as they’ve continued to kick that can down the road. Want to blame someone, blame dysfunctional government.
2
Cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy have nothing to do with it. Right?
7
Let's remind the basics here. After Bill Clinton eliminated the deficit he had inherited from a GOP president, Bush and Dick Cheney (mister "deficits don't matter") left the White House with a record and structural $1.4 trillion deficit.
As always, when the Democrats and Obama took over DC, they massively CUT it. When Obama left, he had managed already to cut the Bush deficit by 2/3.
Nevertheless, Fox News and the GOP falsely blamed him for the fact that the debt went up dramatically during his presidency - constantly omitting that what drives up the debt is the federal deficit, and that Obama did almost not add to the deficit himself (Democrats systematically reinstall the pay-as-yo-go rule when they take over, and the GOP systematically abolishes it), AND cut the GOP's structural deficit by almost a trillion, bringing it back from $1.4 trillion to $500 in 2016.
And then ... the GOP takes over, and the debt and deficit disaster immediately starts again.
Spending goes through the roof (whereas Obama brought it down to levels not seen in more than 5 decades) - especially military spending, on things that the military itself explicitly stated it did NOT need - whereas massive tax cuts for the wealthiest once again cut down government revenue.
ANY CEO who would run his private sector company the way the GOP is running our taxpayer money would be fired and/or out of business for a long time already, by now.
And yet, in the US we continue to hire them ...
4
The GOP always shovels as much money as they can in to corporate pockets and wonder later why things didn't work out. Have some balance republicans and give some benefits to your people as well. It is not socialism if you raise the minimum wage, enact laws guaranteeing paid vacation (we are pretty much the only country not doing it), paid maternity leave and make health insurance affordable. It is the basic minimum the people deserve!
2
This is all part of the Republican plan to utilize the US Treasury as a mechanism for pumping wealth up from the many to the few. Democrats fill the treasury up with tax revenues, Republicans pass tax cuts for the rich. It would be one big scam. But as George Costanza would say - "It's not a lie if you believe it.". Republicans believe that wealth is a measure of personal value and the rich deserver more because they're worth more. It's probably always been this way, part of human nature.
4
@L osservatore
You are not Trump. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Even if I accepted your premise, I would still have to ask why, after 31 months in office, Trump hasn’t taken steps to curb government spending. This was one of his campaign platforms, after all.
To blame Obama, who inherited a horrible economic situation, is like blaming the restaurant wait staff for a fire in the kitchen.
However, this is a bi-partisan mess. The story clearly states that many of the recent spending bills were passed by both Congressional parties. All of our duly elected representatives need to be held accountable for this.
1
It’s ironic that when Republicans talk about “free” college or health care, it’s as if our tax dollars would not pay for it.
I don’t hear anyone talking about “free” defense spending, why is that?
2
Recently read a book where the entire message was invest in a Roth IRA (money is taxed now, but tax free-in retirement) because taxes when you retire MUST be higher than they are, otherwise there will be no country. Taxes are at the lowest they have been in the entire history of the country. Weird to say it but com 2030~2040 they are going to be calling NOW the "good old days" when taxes were low.
2
The Republicans have essentially created a poison chalice for Trump’s successor... they will rail against necessary tax increases while at the same time call for more cuts to government services that can’t bear further without degradation in services... when the cuts are made and services suffers then it becomes easier for the Republicans to call for privatisation and/or even more cuts to the ‘incompetent and inefficient government’ service. Rinse and repeat.
1
This is all part of the long term Republican program to slash Social Security and Medicare which they hate as providing services to the middle and lower classes. So they will give the ultra rich tax cuts until they destroy the country's finances and then weep crocodile teams that they have to make necessary cuts to balance the budget when they don't give two hoots about the budget.
Always the same story - Bush 1 and 2, then Trump, run up the deficit to new heights, then the moment a Democrat is elected the Republicans cry about the Democrats causing the deficit when in fact every Democratic President has reduced the deficit.
Its the longest running political scam and its all leading to drastic cuts to Social Security and Medicare in the name of balancing the budget.
2
Another four years of Trump and the Republicans in the senate and we can kiss the economy good-by and hello bankruptcy.
Our grandchildren will by reduced to poverty as the government will no longer be able to pay the interest on a 50 Trillion dollar National debt.
2
I remember when Reagan was howling about Carter's 80 billion deficit, right before Reagan got the ball rolling to destroy the middle class.
1
Lots of criticism herein.
Considering every Dem candidate want to drastically expand social programs, where are Dems and so-called ‘progressives’ going to cut?
Bonus points for noting you could zero out the Pentagon and still be under water.
1
So now President Magic 8-Ball is saying he's not considering payroll tax cuts? What a surprise. How can anyone take anything he says seriously anymore after he jumped the nation of Greenland, errrr... shark?
2
In America, since the Reagan years, the Republicans have always used divisive scare tactics to distract from the fact, that the so called private sector, as long as well connected with the right affiliations, feeds itself silly at the public trough.
3
Oh Senator Thune, wake up. Donald isn’t going to change his stripes and become fiscally responsible at the ripe old age of 74, doddering through life. He has six bankruptcies under his belt and he squandered his inheritance. Now he is wrecking the economy.
The only silver lining is that the next time the GOP complains about presidential decorum like tan suits, fiscal responsibility, ethics, pretty much anything under the sun, Americans will be able to ignore the whining.
2
There goes the defense budget--just kidding.
2
Trump's deficit blowout is just another wealth transfer from the working poor & middle class to the 1%. Follow the numbers.
3
maybe buying Greenland and selling off its vast ice will help to reduce the deficit?
One can never rule out the genius of Donald....
3
Whoa. We'll be gone faster than you can say Trump Casinos. Donald was right - I'm tired of all this winning.
1
Budget deficit will read $1 trillion by next year. I know, let's buy Greenland!
2
When an enterprise (a company or a country) increases spending while reducing revenue, bankruptcy is a likely result. Donald Trump has ample experience in plunging organizations into bankruptcy. Fasten your seatbelts.
So does this mean that Arthur Laffer has to give back his Presidential Medal of Freedom?
3
Why aren't the Dems capitalizing on this? And I don't understand why this is not reported more in the news cycle.
1
When will we hear from all those Republican deficit hawks?
Duh, our aging population means that economic contraction is the best thing that could happen to us. Our suicide in slow motion burning fossil fuels has not substantially slowed. If an economic contraction will keep fossil fuels in the ground, bring it on. Most old people are lonely, and nobody belongs to anything. We have way too much stuff, and way too little compassion, in us, and between us. Take the economy and shove it, I don't need it anymore, never did.
He's running the country just like his businesses, into the ground.
2
What a mess. Somehow we have to deal with environmental issues first and foremost. It would be nice to put Americans on a healthier track for their lives, and how do we save all the people that are slated to be killed in gun violence in the coming years? I’m not even thinking yet about the homeless and mentally ill - they will take an extraordinary amount of money. My thoughts - raise taxes again on the very wealthy. Sorry, you can’t have goodies until the deficit comes down to a reasonable amount - whatever that is. Secondly, scale back on defense spending - no one is attacking us, we’re doing a good job of attacking ourselves through weird, misconstrued gun laws. Third, get started on infrastructure improvements that will save money in the long run. If we had a sane person in the Whitehouse, these actions could happen, but it’s not going to be now. With Republicans from the leadership to voters dead set on denying reality, playing with tariffs that destroy our businesses and goodwill and frittering away tax dollars, we don’t stand a chance. They really hate their country and democracy so much that they’re willing to risk a lot of lives. Interesting and worse than sad - tragic.
2
And yet we want to buy Greenland. With what money President Bankruptcy? Pray tell.
1
And when President Biden or Harris or Warren or Sanders proposes spending some money on infrastructure or healthcare or education or pretty much anything that helps the future of the nation, Republicans will line up to excoriate the President on fiscal sensibilities and deficits in about 3 nanoseconds, with zero sense of irony or hypocrisy.
2
“And you’re gonna say Mr. President, please stop, we can’t take all this winning”
1
Before Trump is done, this country will be as bankrupt as one of his Atlantic City casinos.
1
I don't know whether to call the president "Deficit Donald" or "Trillion Trump."
1
The Republicans have never really wanted to balance the budget. They just wanted to destroy the government. Trump is following his career playbook. Borrow tons of money, pay for nothing, line your own pockets, then declare bankruptcy, except this time he is bankrupting the USA.
1
Thanks Donnie! Can't wait to burden our kids with this deeply unnecessary, irresponsible, HUGE deficit! When I think of the word--nightmare--the only person who comes to mind is Donald Trump. Unforgivable that he's the current Occupant in the White House.
1
More proof that the so-called "Tea Party" and other forces that so effectively stymied the Obama administration were simply Fox News/GOP constructs. Hypocrisy knows no bounds in these United States.
He has only one issue.....open borders "which means you don't have a country" according to many including Sanders in the past. Despite that the Dems are doubling down on open borders. Sad. They may lose.
It kind of confirms the whole tea party saga is a fad or a fake organization setup by GOP. I’m almost sure it’s latter.
"The state incurs debts for politics, war, and other higher causes and 'progress'.... The assumption is that the future will honor this relationship in perpetuity. The state has learned from the merchants and industrialists how to exploit credit; it defies the nation ever to let it go into bankruptcy. Alongside all swindlers the state now stands there as swindler-in-chief." Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (1818 – 1897), the great Swiss historian who wrote the classic "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy." How did a 19th century Swiss historian foresee 21st America?
Does loud President Disturbed have our economy humming like a well-tuned engine, or what?
Enormous deficits are bad only if they are made by Democrats
1
Catastrophe.
Everyone should watch/rewatch James Cameron's “Titanic”. Fast forward through the mushy-gushy first 2/3rds, the melodrama, plot and character setups, up to the iceberg hit. Then, watch how everything quickly falls apart.
Once started that collapse becomes inexorable until, finally, the great “unsinkable Titanic” disintegrates, torn to pieces by basic Newtonian physics, its own design flaws and the incompetence, negligence, stupidity, hubris, even cowardice of its officers and crew.
Watch and ponder, because the sad fate of the passengers will be ours, because we’re aboard one of our own.
But sure, let's buy Greenland ...
1
The United States of America federal jobs focuses so much on your credit history in order to be hired for their top tier jobs but the country has owed debt my entire 34 years of life.
The United States of America federal jobs focuses so much on your credit history because it shows if you’re responsible or irresponsible. Do you pay your bills on times? Do you have a unlimited habit of borrowing money and pay some people back and some dont? The United States of America is irresponsible and reckless but expect the citizens to be responsible and grateful. FOH lol
I wonder if there is any coverage of the huge increase in the deficit on FOX news. Too bad Trump's base is hooked on Fake news.
1
These Trump McConnell Republican actions are the principal causes behind the exploding deficit: the tax cut for the rich, and the tariff and trade inanity. Leave it to them to cause things to get worse precisely when they should get better--while the economy is good. Trump is a multiple-bankruptcy business failure who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Republican economic theories, which have been proven wrong time and again, are as big a sham as Trump is. Great idea, fellas. Keep the tax cut for the rich, but take away Social Security and Medicare. And they have the nerve to propound on leadership, honesty, responsibility?
1
Gosh, what a surprise! The tax cuts did not (and will not ever) yield a surplus of cash rolling in! Who could have possibly seen that coming? How quickly Republicans sold themselves to put this troll in office and how cheaply they sold their own country.
1
Check all the Trump enterprises and I'm sure you'll find one trillion dollars that wasn't there before.
The King of Debt strikes again, this time on the world stage. VOTE him and his cadre of sycophants out office in 2020.
1
I can't wait until our next recession and that deficit. That deficit will be bigly!
1
Not a single republican saying "but how will we pay for it?" The hypocrisy makes me sick.
1
In 2017 Steve Mnuchin said “Not only will this tax plan pay for itself, but it will pay down debt.“ A week ago Mnuchin said, “there is a scenario in which we run out of cash in early September, before Congress reconvenes.” (link below)
Should we believe either Mnuchin? Either Trump?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/us/politics/debt-ceiling.html
2
And how would Mr. Donald Duck, oh excuse me, Trump raise money to buy the biggest island in the world, Greenland?
1
"...President Trump’s spending and tax policies force the United States to borrow more money."
If we need to borrow more money you'd think interest rates at the Treasury would rise to attract more borrowers. But that is not the case because the Fed is buying treasuries with imaginary money.
So I ask again, why do we bother with taxes, borrowing and budgeting at all?
Basic economic theories are being ignored.
The theory of guns vs butter is what did the Soviet Union in, and the reciprocal is what's making China a success story.
Guns represent the unending wars and the voracious military industrial complex.
On the other hand, Butter represents consumable production (whether tech, food, or durable goods) and commercial infrastructure investment.
We are upside with our priorities. But hey, the party of both family values & fiscal responsibility got this!
We are in some kind of hands, however, it's not what you've all wished for.
Where is the Tea Party will need to hold the line on the deficit? The corporate and wealthy friendly tax bill more important than the deficit. I guess.
9
And this report of the budget deficit increasing faster than expected is a surprise to who? Not to those of us who knew any businessman who declared bankruptcy three times was probably barely fit to balance his checkbook, much less the nation’s deficit.
80
Three times?
Make it six.
But somehow his followers and worshipper at the Fox News altar still believe that this person in the White House, this six-time bankrupt self-proclaimed great businessman, who no American bank has been willing to lend a single cent to since the early 1990s, is a great business mogul.
It's like the old joke on Wall Street: he should really have titled his book "The Art of the Default".
2
Not at all surprised. I think we all knew that Trump was going to use this presidency to make more money for himself and his buddies.
62
Growing faster than expected my foot!
23
@Nathan Hansard what's wrong with your foot?
Republican hypocrisy - can't increase the deficit if it helps ordinary working folks but it doesn't matter how big the deficit is if it helps the rich get richer! Republicans will cut Social Security and Medicaid to keep the tax cuts. My biggest question is why so many people vote against their own economic well being? Farmers being hurt by the tariffs but they still will vote republican. Union members from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania put Trump in office. Will they continue to support the republican party? I really don't get it...
61
@Keith
I guess as long as they can restrict some woman’s health case choices, loosing the family farm is worth it.
Keith,
They've been steadily fed propaganda from conservative media. They haven't a clue.
2
Reason has long escaped the MAGA fools. They feel good sticking it to those who bothered to get an education; it’s pure envy rage by deplorables - who will vote for anyone that is as grotesquely obese as they are and cannot string three words together.
1
Let's see, 2016. Republican President; check. Republican congress, check.
Achievements? Tax cut, conservative justices. Military.
Infrastructure?
New Healthcare (I won't say Bill, because there isn't a plan)?
Bupkis. When picking a "businessman" to run the country, try picking one who FEARS bankruptcy and deficits.
Kind of like when the Red Sox faithful complained that the Yankees bought their championships...until they did it themselves.
Republi-crats? Has a nice ring to it.
13
@Mark Doesn't work as a compound word. Clinton balanced budgets and Obama reduced them every year. Republican from Reagan to both Bush's to Trump created massive deficits mainly due to massive tax cuts every time.
"Both sides do it" another Republican favorite is simply untrue.
1
We may have to allow undocumented immigrants to enter the country so we can use their tax contributions to lower the deficit.
43
Wow. The republicans were SCREAMING about the deficit when Obama was in office. And once again, just like previous republican administration’s, they will wreck the economy and then Democrats will have to dig the country out of the hole again.
78
Trillion dollar debt! God help us when all this facade of US prosperity that is worshipped around the world, crashes down...
17
It’s a $1 trillion deficit but a $20 trillion debt.
2
Wow! The number is almost as much as during the years that Obama was President.
3
@Richard Winchester Deficits went down under Obama.
1
@Richard Winchester I do recall that last republican President W Bush left behind the worst recession during the depression, and Obama averted a total disaster.
3
@Richard Winchester Actually, you have to give a lot of credit to George Bush for that.
2
Right wing ideologues will, once again, give a mountain of debt to the next Democrat while insisting on austerity. Trump will keep burning through money like the lousy sponging, corrupt fraud that he has always been. He doesn't have to pay one cent for his corruption.
33
Where is the fiscally responsible Tea Party when we need them? lol
24
@wenke taule
The Obama Admin used the IRS to crush them.
@wenke taule
Hopefully, confused and lost, stuck with diabetes of the brain
@EGD lol.
Hmmmm and China is one of America's biggest creditors so we start a trade war with them... the doings of a stable genius.
13
Deficits don't matter IF you invest. Trump gave your money to the very wealthy and the southern/red states that never invest in their own infrastructure or schools.
The Federal government ( and your tax dollars) are propping up states like Kentucky and all the other states that take more from the federal coffers than they give. Theft, plain and simple.
At least Mussolini got the trains to run on time. Fascism never lasts long. Trump is toast in 2020 and the GOP with him.
23
@Louis J Roads and Schools just fine here. Anyway, this is america- schools ain’t that important and my pickup has great suspension.
2
@Louis J. For sure Mussolini got the trains to run on time, but let’s never forget it was his own countrymen who had enough when it came time for him to go.
@Robert. Give back the Federal money.
Classic "brutus ignoramus", capricious to no end, clueless to reality, to reason, and to common sense. And who shall pay for this exuberant, and irresponsible, 'largesse'? Our children's children. And not much to show for...unless you count our crumbling infra-structure. Where did republican 'deficit hawks' go, nowhere to be found?
9
Rates are going negative anyway why not have a ten trillion deficit and send everyone a million. Lol the system will crash with this type of policy. What a crazy. Kangaroo approach .
4
Wohl
Maryland
sublime comment
Only Trump could increase the deficit under a booming economy and low unemployment! He’s brilliant!!
That is all folks.
Where are the GOP deficit hawks nowadays , they were braying loud during Obama time.
12
People should be in the streets protesting this outrageous deficit.
The first wave of protesters should be made up of conservative budget deficit hawks.
The second wave should be made up of cognizant citizens without a conservative/liberal bias.
The third wave will consist of Democrats, who have enough forward vision to see the mess they will have to clean up in the near future.
12
We are in so much trouble.
20
@Leslie
In Gen X i trust
Millennials on the other hand....
Maybe if we all just ignore the national debt, it will go away ....
6
@Gary Not too many years ago Trump did that with his bills...
America going the way of USSR. Cut Pentagon budget into half. Take care of national security, instead of national interest. Close half of oversea bases. Irrelevant in the age of hypersonic missiles.
7
@freokin Only boots on the ground take control after the missiles stop falling.
Republicans have been in power since 2012. Where's the conservative in all of this?
9
Pres. Trump inherited a status quo that included paying out a trillion more dollars each year than came in. You can't just stop that over-spending cold.
Besides, not one Democrat ever complained when Pres. Obama was overspending, even when it was as much as $4.1 billion a DAY in red ink.
1
@L osservatore
Trump inherited a $500 trillion structural debt.
He doubled it, with his tax cuts for the wealthiest bill.
Obama inherited a $1.4 trillion structural debt. He cut it by 2/3.
There, corrected it for you.
2
@L osservatore
Go look up the numbers.
Clinton gave W Bush a balanced budget, zero deficit.
W Bush gave Obama a whopping $1.4 Trillion deficit.
Obama cut that by almost 2/3 to $550 Trillion.
And not it is going back up to $1 Trillion.
Republicans count on there voters not knowing these things.
1
@L osservatore, guess you forgot about the sequestration. Did you complain that Obama gave us a tax cut and increased defense spending while running such high deficits? He had a recession to get us out of, Trump doesn't have that excuse.
2
The same people who said we won’t get a recession also said the tax cuts will decrease the deficit. How do they get away with saying these things?
21
@Chris
The enabling, Republican owned media?
1
Sounds familiar. Isn't this debt and spending pattern what resulted in Mr. Trump's personal financial debt crisis; i.e. bankruptcy, in the 1990s?
17
Republican fiscal policy:
Cut taxes for the wealthy.
Cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for it.
18
@Independent, you mean threaten to cut SS and Medicare, but never actually do it because voters don't want their benefits reduced. Americans want their cake and eat it too.
It’s time to talk about our Military spending. It isn’t unpatriotic or un-American to question this, it’s logical.
25
@TM : Good read on this subject is :
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. Tales from The Pentagon. by Rosa Brooks.
Quite an expose'.
1
Unfortunately social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and welfare are a huge part of expenditures. Obamacare didn’t make things better by improving health and longevity. Dead people don’t collect checks.
Don't see any talk of reducing "Defense". Eisenhower warned us of this but we have generally ignored his warning. Reportedly we spend more on "defense" than the next 10 countries combined.
Furthermore in having a vast military industrial complex it is tempting to use it. How about a nice little war in Iran? and/or, maybe, Venezuela.
8
If we continue to borrow and spend, we are going to have to offer the country for sale in the near future. A potential customer might be Denmark.
16
The beauty of the Trump tax cuts for the rich is that they are locked in, even if the economy tanks or deficits rise.
5
Throughout my voting life, the GOP has told me that it is the party of fiscal discipline, therefore this cannot possibly be true.
2
As the Republicans are always worried about how deficits are hurting the country, will the Republicans discuss and explain this horrendous deficit on Fox News so that Americans can understand it’s causes and how much each of us owe to pay it off?
Spoiler: No Medicare for All will be cheaper than the current for-profit healthcare system if the CBO counts all money (private and public) Americans spend on healthcare. The CBO only reports public money in their accounting at present. It’s simple.
So you don’t have to explain or distort this on Fox News.
2
The value of the dollar will collapse. To this add medical debt, college de credit card debt mortgage debt, you can see a giant Ponzi effect.
4
The reason Republicans are suddenly pro-deficit spending is that they see crippling nation debt as an inevitable excuse to kill Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and anything else that benefits the people, as opposed to the rich.
12
The 2017 Ryan / McConnell / Trump tax bill.
Tax cuts for the rich to be paid for by the rest.
This is after 8 years of Republicans relentlessly railing against the debt when it was Obama.
Every Republican senator voted for it. Not one Democratic senator voted for it.
2018 jobs: 2.6 Million
2015 jobs: 2.7 Million
2014 jobs: 3.0 Million
And the Obama jobs were with the "jobs killing" Obama-care.
3
Unemployment is so low that it is hard for employers to find qualified workers for the new jobs they have.
There are good businessmen who get into politics and then there are businessmen like Donald Trump who has a long history of questionable business practices that play out in ostentatious, overpriced operations, in losses carried forward for years, bankruptcies, fraud settlement payments, lawsuits and unending negotiations
Budget deficit numbers should persuade all but the most obstinate supporters how inept Trump is at leading any organization that makes more than it spends.
5
What happened to all the Republicans who used to clamor about deficits when Obama needed to spend us out of recession. Since that time we have an economy that has recovered, unemployment is low, the stock market is flying, tax cuts have been handed out to the rich to boost the economy (that has always worked, right?), and yet Trump and the Republicans are driving up the deficit and debt. But, wait, they promise if we reelect this con man THEN we will see a reduction of the deficit and the debt paid off....sure I trust you ...... wake up you 40% who still support this tv charlatan and vote him and the rest of his Republican cronies out of office in 2020.
8
Apparently Republicans do not resist change. They have discovered that what Democrats do has benefits. If you are a Democrat, why are you unhappy?
"The president has mused in recent days about reducing the taxes that investors pay on capital gains, a move that is estimated to add $100 billion to deficits over the next decade."
Trump says whatever enters his feeble mind at the time or quotes one of his inept economic advisors. It is very clear that trump specifically and republicans in general conjure up policies that benefit the people who finance their elections. If trump's core supporters think he is doing them any favors other than pandering to their base racism they need to go study basic economics.
5
Both political parties made this mess. I think it is fair to say that citizens are partly responsible too.
As always a complex issue that took decades to create can be boiled down to 'Trump did it.' This is the NYTs and I no longer expect any nuance to anything.
Democrats win the white house? Tax cut for 'the middle class' (always includes rich people and businesses) and more spending. Republicans win the white house? Tax cut for top earners (a little bit for everyone else) and more spending.
Trump inherited an economy that can only function on borrowed money.
2
@willt26 This is the Big Lie of all Republicans. The deficits are NOT a bi-partisan problem. They are exclusively and always cause by Republicans cutting taxes for the rich. Obama reduced the deficit and handed Trump a great economy which he is proceeding to trash while he drives the national debt to unheard of levels.
2
@willt26 I'm confused. This NYT article posits deficit spending is bad. However, on Monday, August 19, Paul Krugman posited it's bad that Germany is not engaging in deficit spending (The World Has a Germany Problem, The debt obsession that ate the economy). Krugman states: "European governments, and Germany in particular, should stimulate their economies by borrowing and increasing spending." Can someone explain this seeming contradiction?
And W inherited a budget surplus and declining debt. Well before 9/11 the deficit was climbing along with the debt.
1
The last five Republican Presidents left office having put the country into a recession. And none of them had seven corporate bankruptcies to their name. If Trump doesn't leave the USA in a recession it will be dumb luck. But. It's coming and it was foreseeable before he was even elected. Elections have consequences.
At least he'll be indicted for Obstruction of Justice.
2
The Oval Office's occupant is reversing himself so soon after announcing a position these days that we could be approaching the time when the reversal comes before the position.
4
We are in such uncharted territory economically right now. Just consider:
1. We will have the largest peacetime deficit in our history as a percent of GDP soon.
2. Interest rates are likely to go negative when the fed cuts rates and other countries continue to pour money into the US because we are still considered a safe haven.
3. Inflation is very low even in the midst of a trade war. What happens if, in addition to interest rates going negative, we enter a deflationary period.
4. Our aging population in and of itself will result in lower growth over the next two decades and ever further if our declining birth rate and greatly reduced immigration continue or accelerate. Both are likely.
5. Tax receipts as a percent of GDP are at modern lows and we remain in the lowest decile of total taxes as a percent of GDP, even controlling for social spending differences, to the OECD countries.
6. We are on the cusp of a worldwide economic slowdown.
7. Our country's economy is being run by television pundits with a track record of consistently being wrong about the economy.
I could go on but I don't believe any economist worth their salt has any idea where this may all lead. There are no historical precedents.
12
Our country is worth spending money to sustain and improve social programs and to provide for the national defense. We've got to tax ourselves more.
Except for the US, all the countries that provide extensive social benefits impose a substantial valued added tax. It's time for the US to adopt a substantial VAT, which should be phased in gradually so as not to shock the economy all at once. Every one pays and everyone shares in the benefits.
Corporate and personal income taxes need to be raised and loopholes closed. Much more effort should be extended on enforcement since apparently there is a lot of tax revenue lost due to fraud and evasion. And changes should be phased in to avoid sudden shocks.
Come on, America! We're worth it!
18
@john640 In Britain we had substantial value added taxes during the war. The percentage of tax varied in accordance with the government estimate of the luxurianess of the product. I seem to remember that jewelry had a high tax except for wedding rings.
2
@john640 VAT is a highly regressive tax model. In the UK, it is 20% on almost everything. In the USA, VAT combined with state and local taxes would be lethal to small businesses. Inheritance tax is much more reliable and progressive tax solution.
2
No we are not worth it. We must decay and disappear for the welfare of mankind.
4
Concern about deficits is the role of the party out of power. They're worried there won't be enough room left for them to increase spending for pet projects, reduce taxes for favored constituencies or both.
3
@Tom Yeah, but the real terror for the party then out of power would be curtailment of pet projects like bloated WMD spending, fossil fuel subsidies, zero corporate tax loopholes and further tax cuts for the 1%.
4
@Tom
Deficits went up under Reagan and W Bush.
Deficits came down under Clinton and Obama.
Deficits go up under Republicans because they cut taxes for the wealthy.
16 Million jobs under Reagan
23 Million jobs under Clinton, almost 50% more.
3 Million jobs under W Bush
11.5 Million jobs under Obama, almost 400% more.
And that was after getting us through the worst recession since the Great Depression.
And with the "jobs killing" Obama-care.
9
The 1970s was the decade before Supply Side Economics was introduced by Reagan. The 1970s was considered a problem because of oil shocks and stagflation.
Average GDP growth in the 1970s was over 3.5%. THAT is Higher than the average for the last 20 years and higher than growth under Trump's tax cuts. Peak growth in the 70s was 8%.
Supply Side Economics has NEVER worked as advertised. It has never increased tax revenue as promised, and never created more than a fragile bubble in the GDP.
Kansas tried Supply Side and the Republican Party was forced by the resulting disaster to RAISE taxes.
Since 1980, average GDP growth, average productivity growth, and capital utilization (the percent of machinery being used in production) and average worker wages are all DOWN.
Supply Side Economics is a fake hypothesis, with no actual causal mechanism, and no data that doesn't disprove it. It was designed on a napkin by the same people that brought is the Iraq War, as an excuse to cut taxes on the rich. Because the rich own almost all news outlets, the news, (even MSNBC and other "liberal" networks) refuse to compare pre-Supply Side Growth to the results of this McCarthy forty year experiment with it economy, because corporate media wants corporate tax cuts
GDP growth by year is easy to file in the net. Average the years to see the real effects off "Voodoo" Economics.
The Democrats controlled Congress for nearly 60 years when they put high taxes on the rich to invest in the USA!
14
After 18 years of both Democratic and Republican administrations nothing changes. Our political leaders are amateurs when it comes to making the right financial decisions. If we were a company we would be in Chapter 11. Their leadership has left a massive tab for future generations. As Americans we need to hold them accountable and force the tough choices. Its not a left or right issue. America journalists need to ask the tough questions.
09/30/2018 : 21,516,058,183,180.23
09/30/2017 : 20,244,900,016,053.51
09/30/2016 : 19,573,444,713,936.79
09/30/2015: 18,150,617,666,484.33
09/30/2014 17,824,071,380,733.82
09/30/2013 16,738,183,526,697.32
09/30/2012 16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011 14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86
26
@Just 4 Play GOP have traditionally created enormous DEFICITS by lowering taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, leaving their wars and corporate welfare schemes unfunded. Early fiscal 2018, U.S. federal DEBT was $20.805 trillion, the Trump deficit $441 billion. DEBT is a running tally of $ borrowed to cover short-falls/plus interest.
Deficits are the revenue short-falls calculated over a fiscal period. You'll notice that during the Obama period of recovery from the Bush Recession, revenue shortfalls (people were out of work!) grew. Trump inherited an ecomony after 8 yrs of recovery and created an unnecessary deficit with Trump Tax Cuts and Tariffs.
13
@Just 4 Play
GW Bush kept 2 sets of books. Did you include the defense spending?
I bet Donald Trump is probably keeping 3 sets.
2
@Just 4 Play
Sorry, but it was the Republicans that slashed taxes under Bush. It was Republicans that started two "off budget" wars that cost trillions of dollars. Anger it was Republicans that controlled the presidency and Committees for most of the 8 years leading up to the Great Recession that began under Bush.
Blaming Obama for the deficit that resulted from Republican policy, after Democrats warned them to change their policy, is bad analysis at best.
Yearly deficits went down under Clinton, up under Bush, down under Obama, and up under Trump.
That's the obvious fact in the data.
4
Trump White House on Monday : “we aren’t looking at a payroll tax cut”
Trump on Tuesday: “I’m looking at cutting payroll and capital gains taxes”
Trump on Wednesday: “I’m not looking at a tax cut now”
... and they said John Kerry was a flip flopped...
56
The fact Trump supporters believe anything he says is a perfect example of their willingness to be deluded and maintain partisan tunnel vision.
2
After 18 years of both Democratic and Republican administrations nothing changes. Our political leaders are amateurs when it comes to making the right financial decisions. If we were a company we would be in Chapter 11. Their leadership has left a massive tab for future generations. As Americans we need to hold them accountable and force the tough choices. Its not a left or right issue. America journalists need to ask the tough questions.
09/30/2018 : 21,516,058,183,180.23
09/30/2017 : 20,244,900,016,053.51
09/30/2016 : 19,573,444,713,936.79
09/30/2015: 18,150,617,666,484.33
09/30/2014 17,824,071,380,733.82
09/30/2013 16,738,183,526,697.32
09/30/2012 16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011 14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010 13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009 11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008 10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007 9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000 5,674,178,209,886.86
I miss voodoo economics.
4
Only Trump could increase the deficit under a booming economy and low unemployment! He’s brilliant!! And only the most corrupt and hypocritical Republican Party could allow this to happen!
68
Add a country to the list of things Trump has bankrupted. That man is so useless that he could not run a lemonade stand to save his life.
42
Congressional Republicans -- all Republicans -- define themselves and their party by failing to counter and hold to account the loud, destructive madman who is President Trump. All but a handful of elected Republicans stand idly by while President Pathological inflicts deep wounds on our nation and on every American. Republicans: Where is your courage? Where is your patriotism?
19
"No it won't reach a trillion dollars. This is just fake news created by a conspiracy within the CBO to try and defeat me in 2020!"
President Trump
21
Where is the "red" real time deficit ticker that ran on Fox News during the Obama presidency?
Time to dust it off and attach Trump's name to it.
41
Did President Pathological get this economy humming, or what? Sarcasm alert for his remaining marks, dupes and accomplices, the perpetually lost.
8
Wait.
Isn't this the same delusional pathological lying deep mentally ill man that promised a 10% middle class tax cut that he would unveil in early November 2018?
Yet 43% support the man.........
23
The wealthy know that Socialism is the only way to keep them from losing everything since it keeps them from taking too much out of the economy which leaves less for those who want to buy what they produce. When the poor can't afford to buy their stuff, they go out of business. We need a "You Can't Take It With You" program to prevent wealth from stagnating within the wealthy. Too much wealth is causing economic constipation and a little cods liver oil, in the form of increased inheritance tax will help regulate them. They have no self control, those rich folks, and need some of mama's old fashioned home remedy or they're going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
11
@Max And Max
I've decided to start the "You MUST take it with you" club so that when I die, whatever is left (I'm in the top 15%) will go with me. I'm not letting anybody inherit anything, except Juilliard or Mannes or Manhattan. I refuse to be buried with my wealth and I won't deny those I've never met from the opportunity of doing something for society. Seriously, folks. We can't take it with us.
2
Exactly!
Rich people want us to actually believe that their fortunes are invested in stocks, bonds, and privately owned businesses and that these privately held investments create jobs, provide capital for entrepreneurs, and ultimately increase affluence for all, but we’re not falling for it. Socialism is the answer.
All that superfluous economic activity is killing the planet anyways, which is why in their wisdom, Venezuela routinely institutes blackouts in Caracas.
Socialism will also cure us of our decadent materialist outlooks, as it has our austere comrades in North Korea.
In America, everyone is fat, and this plague unequally affects the poor. We’re the first society in history where obesity kills more people than famine. Socialism will surely save us from this dark fate as it did the Soviets in 1921, and the Chinese in 1959-61.
“Progress” is a lie perpetuated by these materialistic false prophets. They say that standards of living are unimaginably higher today than they were even 60 years ago, but they’ve never had to sit in stand-still traffic (as I currently am), while some rich guy helicopters home above them. You nailed it, “there’s too much wealth,” and Socialism is the answer.
1
@Michael Brian Burchette
It's not just killing the planet, (surely, we can't expect the insulated wealthy to care about that), but their behavior is depriving them of the very thing they most value: wealth. If Socialism were to help the greatest number of people, it would not ever have been born. However, it is designed to protect the wealthy from over eating and from devouring the seeds upon which they depend for future harvests. We don't need to care about the poor. Socialism just keeps the poor rich enough to make the rich engage in greed with some restraint.
1
If this country has any sense then this news alone should be enough to remove Republicans from the Presidency and the Senate.
Has any political party so embarrassed itself as this party has?
14
Big surprise. He drove his businesses into the ground. Now he’s doing the same to the country. If this is some folks’ idea of a “good businessman,” they might consider a brain recalibration.
19
Any fiscal conservative who doesn’t vote Democrat is no fiscal conservative.
19
Funny how Republicans care so deeply about deficits when Democrats are in power - and deficits are cited as excuses to slash Social Security and Medicare - but not at all when they themselves have a chance to cut taxes for the rich and funnel obscene amounts of money to our bloated military and Big Ag.
Meanwhile, we know how Trump entities that load up with massive debt end up. This is a guy who somehow figured out how to bankrupt a casino! Now our whole country’s finances are hitched to this guy’s incompetence.
19
Where are the so called "conservative Republicans" who scream about the budget all the time? Not a peep now that Trump is running wild trying to bankrupt America like he did his casinos.
14
@Jacquie
Actually, those "conservative" Republicans gave us this deficit.
The Republican Congressional leaders gave us this 2017 Ryan / McConnell / Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.
Then every Republican senator voted for it.
Not one Democratic senator voted for it.
Perhaps if Trump spent more of his time in the White House and less of his time at his own resorts, which has cost the taxpayer well over one hundred million dollars so far, the deficit wouldn't go up as much.
Perhaps if Trump's company and Trump himself paid their fair share of taxes on the huge windfall profits that their resorts are raking in each time he visits with his staff and Secret Service, the deficit wouldn't go up as much.
Perhaps if the gutless politicians on both sides of the aisle sat down and did their jobs and went after Trump on the emoluments clause (not foreign emoluments, article II Section 1 Paragraph 7 emoluments) for all the extra money the US Government is paying him through his resorts, and impeached this corrupt, criminal and unqualified president, sanity could return to Washington and this nonsense would end.
Perhaps then, the deficit would not go up as much.
10
“Elect a clown. Expect a circus.” Says it all. Ronald Mc Donald should have received our votes...at least he’s charitable & with enough business savvy to run successful Ronald Mcdonald Houses for families enduring the worst days of their lives.
18
Well, this certainly explains all of Trump's bankruptcies.
12
The current occupant's promise to eliminate the deficit and pay off the debt carries the same truthfulness as the rest of his promises - there is no truth to any of his statements.
I'm sure glad those tax cuts (tax giveaways to the .1%) are paying for themselves. Think how bad the deficit would be if they didn't. /s/
7
The US debt is $22.03 trillion.
So, this adds to it.
The better question is how do we ever pay it down?
Why care? Because the interest on the debt becomes a huge annual expense.
6
Its time for Trump's Chief Legal Officer to come out and explain that the difference in numbers between what the economists are saying vs. what Trump is saying is much like the value of a Scottish country club.
2
I know when 2020 come around the GOP will go after the Medicare and Social security. They won’t have any thing to lose then but we will . They are for small government and every thing should go to the rich.
10
@D.j.j.k. Unfortunately, you're right the GOP probably will come after Medicare and Social Security to 'balance the budget'. Another case of the GOP's rob from the poor give to the rich approach to everything.
Yes, these are entitlement programs, but given I pay for these programs as part of my taxes, I am entitled to their benefits. If the Republicans cut these programs, I want a refund.
2
All of this is part of the plan to dismantle, or bankrupt, the government.
Tax cuts for the wealthy reduce revenue to fund the government.
Then you get rid of employees, programs, and benefits.
8
At least tax and spend Democrats were spending money coming in from taxes which made some budget sense. Now it’s the don’t tax but keep on spending Republicans which makes absolutely no fiscal sense at all.
6
It's the Reagan way.
I'm still waiting for the Tea Party to start marching in support of Democrats and complaining about Trump's $1 trillion deficits endlessly in the news 24:7.
After all, it was Clinton who balanced the budget 1998-2001. It was Obama who took the $1.6 trillion deficit he inherited from Bush (nearly 10% GDP in 2009, the last year budgeted by Bush) and had it back down below historical average at 2.4% GDP by 2015. Obama did this by keeping the spending he inherited flat at $3.5 trillion from 2010-2015, unheard of when spending historically had risen nearly 5% per year, which I know Tea Party folks appreciated.
5
"The federal budget deficit is growing faster than expected"
Is it though? It is growing about as fast as anyone who actually understand that tax cuts when you taxes are already low don't stimulate the economy enough to make up for the lost revenue. That republican canard has been a lie every single time they say it from Reagan and his cronies till the present.
2
The solution to this is obvious...
At some point the debt burden may grow so large the federal government becomes a tempting acquisition prospect for a vulture capitalist corporation like Bain Capital.
Think of the possibilities!
If Bain can do for the US of A what they did for Toys 'R' Us having a man-child as president makes complete sense.
2
CBO said this would happen before the tax cut. But ignore the accountant, all those naysayers just ruin the fun.
Time for another Democrat to clean up the mess .
3
Our print and video media is being played by this guy who just wants to dominate every news cycle. When will we all learn to ignore him.
3
The solution to this is obvious...
At some point the debt burden may grow so large the federal government becomes a tempting acquisition prospect for a vulture capitalist corporation like Bain Capital.
Think of the possibilities!
If Bain can do for the US of A what they did for Toys 'R' Us having a man-child as president makes complete sense.
The Trump tax cuts on the wealthy need to be reversed. The top rate should rise to 42.2% from 37%, while the 32% bracket should rise to 34%, the 24% bracket should rise to 43%, the 22% bracket to 28%, and the 12% bracket to 18%. The lowest bracket remains at 10%, and the 35% bracket is also unchanged. The income bands that the new rates apply to are should be returned to the 2018 brackets .
Alternatively, estimate how much this would generate and then use this to determine a carbon tax.
Alternatively, ration medical care for Medicare recipients to the technology that was available when they retired.. If they want newer technology, let them buy a technology supplement. Blind, disabled and impoverished elder are exempt.
9
@Brad all of these opinions of your are totally arbitrary, what is the rationale behind the changes?
Also, I'm retiring next year, why would I be condemned to the tech that exists today? Seems to be as arbitrary and random as the rest.
3
No problem, I'll declare bankruptcy and we can start all over again with zero deficit. I promise, it'll be great.
47
I'm so tired of winning. My 401k is almost beating my savings account in percentage gains this year.
And now my boss is getting another tax cut. Thanks, Don.
28
I think you should call it like it is, and start referring to it as “Trump’s Deficit.” While Presidents don’t have firm control of many sections of the economy, the deficit is completely under the President’s command. He signs the spending and taxation bills, and his Treasury Department enacts his fiscal policy. The current deficit is strongly the result of Trump’s giveaway to corporations through reduced tax load. It got us right where the economists said it would... a trillion dollars in debt. So let’s be straightforward about it. It’s the Trump Deficit.
48
@David
Actually it is the American peoples debt. Both parties are to blame and we have a $22T tab to pay
@Just 4 Play No..The GOP blows it up, the Dems have to clean up their mess which isn't easy.
2
@Just 4 Play. He was talking about the Trump deficit, not the Trump debt. Although the two are related, they are NOT the same.
What's happened to the deficit under Trump? The bottom line is about a $430 billion increase per year on average for the 2018-2027 period, about 50% over the forecast when he took office.
How do you derive that measure?
January 2017 Current Law Baseline: $9.4 trillion. This assumed the continuation of Obama policies.
January 2019 Alternate Baseline: $13.0 trillion. Assumed the tax cuts for individuals won't expire in 2025. This is a good bet, as Obama extended 80% of the dollar value of the Bush tax cuts.
Other baseline changes in 2019: $0.7 trillion.
Latest alternate baseline: $13.0 trillion + $0.7 trillion = $13.7 trillion.
That's an increase of $4.3 trillion or 46% over the January 2017 forecast, mainly due to policy changes, not economic results different from forecast.
And the deficit figure would another $1 trillion higher, except CBO now expects interest rates to be lower due to a response to the trade wars, lowering their forecast for interest costs.
4
Trickledown was never an economic theory that actually worked, it was a strategy to move a lot of money into a very few, highly favored, pockets.
The projections by the Trump Administration were flawed from the get go. When you reduce revenue and increase spending, you lose wealth. Hardly complicated, just basic arithmetic.
The looming deficit and potential bankruptcy of our country was very predictable.
35
The republicans are a JOKE! Year after year after year they chant the country club mantra of fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets to minimize the deficit so their grandchildren are not strapped with unwieldy deficits to pay off in their future. Ok mr. paul ryan, the koch brothers and the Mercer family...et.el.,..are you going to pay your fair share of income taxes now that you were handed a golden tray at the poolside from our current potus?
29
@rford To almost quote Shotgun Dick Cheney and the Tea Party, "Reagan proved white guys' deficits don't matter"
2
Summon the meteors.
7
How is he going to distract people from this horrifying failure of leadership and policy........ Well let's buy Greenland!!!! What's another trillion amongst friends.
23
Remember the ultimate goal of the GOP is to drown the federal government in a bath tub. That bath tub is filled with debt.
19
This is absolutely the larger plan. They’ve been doing this at the state level for years.
3
@Warren because the ultimate GOP plan is to pick their constituents pockets until they have nothing. The irony is, once they have nothing, they will abolish the 2nd amendment. We can let the poor have guns!
2
The man bankrupted his businesses and now is going to run the country the same way. Uggh... He must be fired!
17
I can’t wait until Trump decides to solve the debt by....Printing Money!!!
9
@John Harper
He has already called for "Quantitative Easing" which is pretty much the same as printing money.
3
@John Harper
I'll give you one guess who's picture is going to be on it...
Where are all those screaming deficit hawks - you know the ones who blew a gasket everytime President Obama proposed something - anything . . . the silence is deafening. And the hypocrisy sickening . . .
48
Coming soon in a town near you: ''Not my fault. It's the bank's fault. Now i have to live in my soon to be repo car.''
8
I guess the deficit only matters to Republicans when the Democrats are in control of the Senate and the White House! The hypocrisy is ridiculous!
20
Get ready for a new chapter in The Shock Doctrine. “Unprecedented!”
9
If I were to pass out $1 (one dollar) bills, one per every second, without rest or stopping, then it would take me 31,709.8 years to pass out one trillion dollars.
Of course, if you believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old then you would scoffing at such a statement.
Which, evidently, is exactly what the Trump/Pence evangelical White (Supremacist) House is doing.
What's that line from Star Wars? "Laugh it up, fuzzball!"
6
Didn't you read, he just proclaimed himself the second coming of Christ.... Without the economy he is done, over ...
9
Strange, The Times, Democrats, liberals and progressives never seemed to care about the deficit when Obama was president. or the federal debt, which grew from less that $11 trillion to almost $20 trillion in Obama's 8 years as president. Hypocrisy? You decide.
4
@paul Very short memory. Obama had to take deficit measures to clean up the 2008 mess left by the last Republican administration.
3
Obama reduced the deficit every year of his Administration. The debt will continue to grow even as the deficit is reduced.
2
@paul
There is really nothing strange about federal debt growing when economic conditions are at near Great Depression levels, and those who are honest with themselves and/or not imbibing the Trump/Republican Kool-Aid would acknowledge that fact.
3
Listening to his speeches, his insane foreign policy, his racist rabble rousing, one must conclude that Trump's deficit is only budgetary.
5
Well, it is hard to expect anything better from a drifter who "led" his business through a half dozen bankruptcies.
But besides all that, running a deficit is not necessarily a bad thing especially if an economic contraction is at hand - please read all the blurbs by the eminent Paul Krugman in op-ed columns of this same newspaper.
But here is the rub - the same GOP (and Trump) were deficit hawks when Obama was leading the country through a genuine improvement (as opposed to the paper and pencil type that we get from this drifter). So deficit not ok when an African American is in charge but ok if a White Supremacist is leading the orchestra?
9
Quoting this president is practically abetting his disinformation campaigns. I’d like to hear from trusted officials instead, about what the government is planning to do about a potential recession. Listening to Trump is a fool’s incorrigible habit.
8
“The Simpson’s” was prescient when an episode from March of 2000, set in the future when Lisa becomes president, said that trump left the country broke!
11
The Republican hypocrisy is on full display. If a Democrat is in the the White House, the Republican deficit hawks scream and yell. The minute a Republican gets into the oval office, it is spend, spend, spend--giving largesse to billionaires and corporations. No fear of deficits. Just grab the cash and stuff it into the coffers of the uber-rich oligarchs that control our government.
13
Deficits - and thus debt - do not matter...
Until they do ...
Then it’s too late to do anything without serious consequences ...
Just like Climate Change ...
Curses we will leave to our grandchildren to deal with ...
When we are DEAD.
9
As always, the Republicans lie through their teeth and we all suffer for it: THEY drive up the deficit with handouts (read: socialism) for billionaires, while blaming Democrats and "entitlements" that actually help people. And their base is dumb enough to eat it up, over and over and over again.
14
How wonderful to have a conservative in charge.
3
Trump's Ponzie scheme is about to come crashing down on the backs of the 99%.
12
Republicans know so much about business and economics. I laugh and laugh and laugh.
5
@Eric They know exactly what they're doing.
1
"Why not try United States Steaks, or United States Vodka. How about a United States Casino! United States Airlines? How about an airplane shuttle - we can say it's my infrastructure bill."
5
Always remember that this is the Republicans' *Plan A*.
Fast forward to 2021: "Alas, there's no money for Social Security, Medicare, or those other "taker" welfare entitlements, and -- equally important -- regulation. We have no choice! Any other way would be -- fiscally irresponsible!"
7
Just like trumpcare another outlandish promise by the wayside
getting rid if the deficit
This from a 6 time bankrupt
Surprise
6
Think Trump is considering filing for US bankruptcy?
5
Finally! A chance at bankruptcy! The biggest bankruptcy ever! NOBODY has EVER had such Huge Bankruptcy!
20
I'm really looking forward to voting out every Republican in office I can, along with Trump, so that we can get Democrats back in to clean up after these slobs, YET AGAIN.
17
Republicans need a real Republican to run against Trump.
The GOP can't be left in the irresponsible hands of a proven spendthrift. He's bankrupted several businesses, and now he's trying to bankrupt our nation.
4
@sing75
Since 1909, every single Republican president has seen a recession take hold in their first term.
1
@sing75 "Real Republican" is an oxymoron.
3
Republicans have always wanted to gut programs and departments they believe are useless... SS Medicare EPA Education HUD just to name a few... they can’t stand staring at that money piling up
6
You own this GOP. Where is the Tea Party with all of their yelling and marching in the streets?
6
You might consider selling Florida to Canada; we are happy to pay.
7
@Theo Van Der Kwast
Canadians would be gracious if Florida refused and considered it "absurd", Canadians would not Call Florida "nasty". The reason is that we are not thin skinned,or easily offended or vengeful. We would not make Mexico pay for it either.
2
@Theo Van Der Kwast
Mar-a-lago is included with the golf courses etc. Enjoy!
3
A pox on Trump and his supporters
7
You all didn't mind under President Obama. What changed? Please tell me as I'd enjoy the laugh.
2
@Bob
How about you tell me what's so funny about massive deficit spending under supposedly fantastic economic conditions? Or what's so funny about federal debt as an existential threat to the country when there's a D in the WH morphing to "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter" when there's a R in the WH?
1
@Bob
Well, since you asked.
When Obama came into the White House the financial crisis was in full swing. Hank Paulson had been handing out hundreds of billions of dollars to banks to bail them out. Mortgages had been written that weren't worth the paper they were written on. It was a long, tough time to rebuild our economy. As the economy improved, the deficit dropped. (see any chart of the deficit).
Now we have an economy that has unemployment that is below 4% and yet for some reason we need to *increase* the deficit? And boost it to almost 5% of GDP?
Why did you need to ask? The answers are so obvious!
3
@Bob Obama was bailing us out from the last Republican administration, which left the US economy in flames as George Bush left office.
3
Where are all the GOP deficit hawks in all of this?!
McConnell? McConnell?
9
If we have a trillion dollar deficit when our economy is supposedly hitting on all cylinders, imagine what the number will rise to when the economy sinks. Our dear leader and his cronies/enablers will simply blame everyone else - not their own ineptitude.
Remember to vote on the first Tuesday of November, 2020.
10
Who knew economics could be so hard?
7
The GOP rules for governing:
1. Tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.
2. Followed by more tax cuts for the wealthy.
3. Strip the social safety net.
4. Pollute and lay waste to the environment.
5. Give the banks a gun and a mask to rob the populace.
6. Rob the working class.
7. Make “right to work states” the model for workers.
8. Start more wars in the Middle East or wherever they feel like it.
9. Dump the whole mess in the lap of the next Democrat who becomes president.
Rinse and repeat.
20
Sure, because we know the only money Trump cares about saving is his own. He's got a long history of spending to the hilt on his hotels and other businesses only to either 1) not pay them and claim their work was subpar, or 2) file bankruptcy, leaving small contractors and vendors holding the bag while he uses the bankruptcy as a tax write-off. He's done it at least 7 times so is it any surprise that he doesn't care about the deficit and that he thinks buying Greenland (even if it were for sale) is no big deal? He's been caught on tape saying he doesn't care about the deficit because it will be someone else's problem when he leaves. So Republicans, so-called Masters/Mistresses of fiscal responsibility, where are you on this? If this was Obama or ANY Democrat raising the deficit to literal record levels, you'd be outraged and calling for immediate impeachment. But let's be real. Democrats aren't the ones who blow up the deficit. That's always been Republicans and it's the Democrats who come in and clean up their mess....which they'll do again. It's going to be an epic-sized hole this time....
4
No doubt others have already noted this, but deficits only matter when a Democrat is in office.
6
Whew. Good thing deficits don’t matter.
4
“I not only don’t think it will increase the deficit, I think it will be beyond revenue-neutral ... In other words, I think it will produce more than enough to fill that gap.”
---GOP prevaricator. Trump enabler, and fat-cat lackey Mitch McConnell, on the 2017 GOP tax cut
8
Hold onto your wallets, folks. Here goes social security, Medicare, food stamps, and every other social program that actually helps poor people. But, no, we can’t touch the military budget! It’s holy.
11
This is why you don't give a man known for going bankrupt (multiple times) control over a government's purse.
7
Didn’t Trump tell us the entire 22 Trillion dollar debt would be cleaned up in 8 years ? I guess he forgot....
8
@Coastal E
Yeah. Well he also said Mexico would pay for the wall.
3
So, the tax cuts didn’t pay for themselves after all.
The US spends *one billion dollars *per day* just on the *interest* on our debt.
And that will double soon.
Tick Tock, tick Tock, tick Tock
6
I hope this finally puts to rest the fantasy of Republican financial prudence. They are nothing more than unemployed drunks are about to enter another bar with a credit card.
8
Where are all the self righteous republicans clamoring for Obama's head when he ran a deficit?
6