Sanford is displaying typical Republican trickeries of diversion, deflection, and obfuscation shamelessly blaming the left for abandoning all sense of fiscal discipline. What party still pushes trick-me-down economics? What party will demolish badly needed safety nets and sacrifice people to enrich themselves and their cohorts? What is more dangerous? The deficit or the WH abomination who is now emboldened to thoroughly savage the rule of law and our constitution. We now have a virtual banana republic blessed by Republicans.
103
Why are they doing it? Because they're scared of losing their cushy jobs if they become Trump's next target.
Here's hoping the Dems will retake the Senate in November. Except for Romney, the Republicans are acting like greedy cowards.
68
Republicans have permitted a radical rewrite of presidential powers by coddling Trump. They'll rue this when a Democrat sits in the Oval Office.
46
President Sanders would be worse (with regard to the debt)? That's nonsense. President Sanders would pay for government spending by taxing appropriately. And, in the case of the increasingly bloated DoD budget, he would actually, again appropriately, reduce spending.
Trump's a charlatan and a proven liar - no doubt. But don't lay his sins at Bernie Sanders' feet.
84
Mark Sanford fleeced South Carolina using tax payer money to visit his mistress in Argentina. But he's a good Christian man. Just ask his wife & kids. Who cares what he thinks? He' forfeited his credibility. He is a self important, self centered liar. The greatest advice I ever received was from my Mother. She told me, "Louise, no matter the subject or format, always consider the source."
42
Not an original post or idea here.
When are the people going to get from behind their screens and take it to the street?
I am tired of your whining and pontificating. DO SOMETHING PEOPLE!
We are currently living in a fascist regime. Period.
35
"Some of my conservative friends, when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True..."
Sanders wasn't alternative to Trump; Clinton was.
Sanford and I could have a reasonable conversation about budgets, deficits etc. But we both agree that over estimating growth and return is bad. These attributes have been the mascots of Republican Presidents.
The Republicans in the past and now continue to minimize their dishonesty with the American people. Sanford writes that "too many of (his) fellow Republicans ignore..." without pointing out that when government offiials ignore bad behavior that is the same as lying and deception.
I have voted republican as many times as not; but no more. The failure to govern for the people rather than for their own party is no longer acceptable. They talk about small government, but small government is not controlling everyone's social, medical, personal behavior. Small government is not creating trillion dollar deficits in the face of a good economy. Small government republican style is what is good for me and my cronies.
33
Phooey. Neither party has shown an inclination to balance the budget and reduce the deficit. You know it; I know it.
6
It will be interesting in the coming months to see if the 48 or so Trump cabinet members who have been fired or quit will be endorsing someone besides their old boss. Many are not career politicians or DC swamp creatures. Many it would seem would have an axe to grind.
10
For my 55 years on the planet the Republicans have made the mess and the Democrats have cleaned it up.
It’s not likely to change anytime soon.
103
Trump, the real estate developer, is happily leveraging our nation so he can buy another term in office. Developers know all about leverage, Trump does too. Just look at his Atlantic City casino disaster!
31
Don't worry Mark Sanford, the moment a democrat beats Trump every single republican will immediately reverse course and become advocates for financial discipline! The only fear would be Trump getting re-elected with a republican senate...then all bets are off and be very worried.
50
The Republican party is classically two-faced: deficit hawks when a Democrat is in the White House or the Governor's mansion, freewheeling spenders of other people's money when they are in charge. I only hope that the next Democrat to occupy the White House ignores them when the whining over budget deficits starts again, or, even better, tells them to stick it where the sun won't shine. This country needs an education, healthcare, infrastructure and energy program that puts US back on track, and borrowing a trillion dollars for that is the best investment we could make.
38
I never imagined agreeing with Mark Sanford about anything until I read this article.
Trump and the Republicans are indeed squandering our national prosperity and our children’s future-all for the sake of a short-term advantage with the voters.
12
I can applaud the risk of taking on your own party about fiscal responsibility, but there is a "bigger issue" Irresponsible spending can seriously hurt a country, as it is what led to the latest recession, but climate change can destroy the planet! Now, in terms of spending, Republicans have run up the deficit whenever they've taken the White House and controlled spending in Congress. Bill Clinton gave George Bush a surplus that was promptly inverted and sent us into recession. Obama downsized departments and unnecessary spending to attempt to aid in getting the country back on track after the greatest recession since the Great Depression and Trump and McConnell gave themselves and all their donors a tax break to aid them in staying loyal to the administration, even telling them that's why they did it. Trump told them "I just made you all richer", but it wasn't him, it was us, the taxpayers, who elect them to represent our needs and they have failed miserably, even setting life up to be miserable for our collective grandchildren, as Mr. Sanford points out, by their greed and selfishness. Say what you will about Sanders, but he is NOT greedy and selfish. None of the Democratic candidates are, not even the billionaires.They want to restore our country to its former greatness, while the Republicans in leadership can't even pass a single bill to fix our infrastructure or our healthcare or our schools or keep us safe from gun violence, when they had full control or Congress.
32
Just so the solution isn't cutting into the spending that we have to do such as rebuilding our infrastructure, dealing with climate change and health care. Instead, we need to tax the ultra-wealthy appropriately, as is only sensible and has been obvious for years. I don't want to hear any talk of trickle-down or zero deficits. Instead let's get a reasonable balance by taxation and cutting the defense budget. The wrong things keep grabbing our nation's wealth. This time it was a tax cut for the already rich and powerful with nothing to show for it.
12
“ when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True —”
Um, false. President Sanders would 1) have to find a way to pay for every social program he proposed. Not even a Democrat congress would allow him to borrow to pay for new programs much less increase payouts for things like slightly higher social security checks.
And, 2) he will be forced to cover deficits, even by his own party, before passage of new social programs. After Trump leaves office, Republicans will again return to being deficit hawks. We saw this in Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. Carter’s austerity became Reagan’s deficit fueled “Morning in America.” Bush to Clinton, deficits and taxes will kill the economy. Clinton to Bush, let’s give the money paying down the debt to job creators and tiny tax beaks to non-millionaires. Bush to Obama, austerity is the way to recovery: we don’t need no stinkin stimulus. And, now Obama to Trump, at a trillion dollars a year added to the deficit, America is great again.
As Krugman continually points out, fiscal austerity is for democratic presidencies, not republican ones.
22
I don’t think people have figured it out yet.
Donald Trump has declared that the rule of law is dead, and that HE IS THE LAW.
Republicans are backing him up.
They refuse to recognize the rule of law, and reject the Constitution.
They have thrown down the gauntlet and have declared that America, as a Republic, is dead.
They will not follow the Constitution, and no one can or will make them.
The Republicans, and Donald Trump claim that they ARE America.
People need to realize that this is the reality that Republicans are claiming, and that no one will deter them.
They will not cooperate.
32
Tax cut bills are tired old GOP ideology that have nothing to do with Trump; throw money at the 1% and see what happens. The cuts are not necessarily tied to investments in manufacturing, job creation or any kind of performance measure. They are an expensive and scattershot way to temporarily juice the economy.
Imagine maxing out all of your credit cards; treat yourself--you deserve it. You will certainly be boosting the economy in some small way. But sooner or later--usually sooner--the bills come due.
9
True enough.
But the Republican party has betrayed our country in far more significant ways than demonstrating their hypocrisy regarding the budget.
It is not fealty to Trump that motivates them. It is fear, combined with a total spinelessness.
8
I still don’t understand how the conventional wisdom is Bernie is too scary, yet every day we stare at the real life/real time affects of our dictator-in-chief eroding our democracy every day.
To say nothing of our national security.
Mr. Sanford: do us all a favor-start naming names and shame your fellow Republicans who are trying to destroy our country for the sake of tax breaks for the rich and sexist judges.
26
The right ignores all of trump's fatal flaws....they ignore his racism. They ignore his compulsive lying. They ignore his over the top criminality. They ignore his narcissism. They ignore his attacks on our foreign allies. They ignore his attacks on our American justice system and it's members. They ignore his trillion dollar deficits. But they don't ignore Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.
27
Why do you still continue Republican affilliation? The party's beyond retrieval.
11
A Republican complaining about deficits while a Republican is President. Well, that's novel. I'll give you that.
9
Mr Sanford, you should spend some time with Dr Krugman.
I think the policy of running large deficits will continue to be successful because production costs will remain in the aggregate for basic consumer goods historically low. Low costs will keep core inflation low, and monetary policy can still be used to prop up the value of assets. We have as a global economy perhaps a decade left to play this game. By then climate change will demonstrate the obvious - that formerly valuable assets and businesses are nearly worthless- while at the same environmental pressures will increase production costs of basic consumer goods on a global scale. Asset values will collapse. Meanwhile, governments, following the present trends towards autocracy, will be unable to even partially mitigate the effects of climate change nor the economic wreckage resulting. Nation state governments may actually contribute to global political, social, economic and environmental degradation. However, nothing is inevitable, if a sufficient mass of people do what is necessary to prevent this.
Mr. Sanford's analysis is nearly worthless. Large deficits are a necessary consequence of policies to pay for government services and appease the constituency that has the power not to pay for it . Both are needed to maintain social order. And, deficits can be paid for by printing money. The collapse will occur when the asset values collapse. Everyone will then run for the exits simultaneously.
1
Hey, Boss, whether you know it or not, you're about 40 years late to the table.
1
You started so well: "the spell of a charlatan” is DJT and his budget. But they you say Bernie Sanders is worse? He may not be my top choice on that said, but neither he nor the others are charlatans. Any of them would be more sane and more fiscally responsible than the current president, the faker in chief. Republicans run up debt. Just look back at reality. Democrats fix things, and then the next R runs it back up. DJT is the worst of them, and he’s a delusional self-congratulating one at that.
12
Nice. This is the opening salvo in the instantaneous about-face from the GOP once a Democrat is back in the White House.
People like this are an embarrassment.
10
Well, Mr Sanford, as for rising deficits during “peacetime”, what do you call our nearly 20 year ‘war on terror’? Chop liver.
And, let me guess, your concern with the national debt is not, per se, with the huge tax cuts for the extremely wealthy, but the bloated costs of the social safety net: social security, medicare, medicaid, disability and food stamps. You want those costs reduced even though we offer as a nation the lowest amount of support compared to all other industrial nations.
You mention your concern that the “american dream” is becoming more elusive as deficits grow so large. What are your concerns about income and wealth inequality that directly impact the ability of young people to rise from poverty into the middle class?
Over the last 20 years, what countries that have imposed tight austerity measures have not resulted in shrinking their national economies?
I wish that so called conservatives would impose their own firm ideologies to the test of evidenced based outcomes. All ideologies (liberal, progressives, whatever) should submit to the same commitment, as well.
3
Your fellow Republicans have become Trump’s personal minions. That is why they continue to make excuses for Trump. Final answer!
4
The Right wing wants to do away with Medicare and Social Security. By cutting taxes and crippling the government they are on track to achieve their goal. As for Trump he has always used wild borrowing to achieve short term goals, so why would anyone expect him to change that pattern of behavior?
7
Trump has always spent like a drunken sailor and used the law to avoid consequence of all that excess. This time he has a whole country to bankrupt instead of a casino. I am, quite frankly, stunned at the number of willing “marks” there are. A majority of his base that the reason the taxes cut hasn’t made a difference to their budget is not because of themselves it’s because.....,.fill in the blank, the Mexicans, the Chinese, the Muslims etc. I’m incredulous that farmers who have suffered downturn are still faithful in the belief of him. Even the “farm welfare”, billions of tax money, was distributed to the larger farms who had cushion to weather the storm. Fiscal responsibility and believing the Constitution should govern our country have been left solely to the Democrat. Right now the Republicans are lauding a President who goes golfing every week at a one of the clubs that directly enrich him. It’s ridiculous, anyone who reads and comprehends (apparently not a third of the country) that the tax cut funds has to come from somewhere. That when Trump golfs or allows his interests to come first, a real price is paid. That maybe we need the scientists and the Intelligence community. You know the folks that “really” track storms, create vaccines to deadly viruses, and work tirelessly to keep the Russians out of our elections.
22
@W
Remember, we're dealing with people who actually believe that Noah filled his ark with all the animals of the world, along with a few righteous people (there is even a giant Noah's ark theme park in Kentucky that is taxpayer supported.)
Everyone else was drowned by the wrath of God.
9
Now we know why you're a former candidate. You have no new ideas, other than the tired old mantra (at least for Republicans when Democrats are in power) that deficits are destructive. Don't you sometimes take on debt to accomplish some important goals in your household? I guess you wouldn't take on debt just to give your rich friends some extra Christmas gifts each year, though...! In any case, just because the power dynamics have changed, that doesn't mean the mantra is any less ridiculous.
3
Mark,
Please provide one example in the last 50 years where the GOP reduced the deficit when it controlled the White House.
21
Mr. Sanford,
None of us who have been paying attention since the days of the sainted Ronald Reagan believe the Republican Party cares even a whit about financial restraint unless a Democrat is in power. It was always the big lie.
43
How about starting with a little honesty? The Republicans aren't worried about Bernie Sander's spending. They are worried about his tax increases.
34
Great points and well done. We are in a huge crisis. But the delusion of great economy on borrowed money is not sustainable Bubble will burst so big that it will be impossible to repair the damage. Today’s Republican Party is a Do Nothing Party with no morale, honesty or integrity. Seems like they are suffering from end stage dementia. They are blind in fiscal or any other aspect. In the past, they cared for national security. We have been hijacked by KGB under the leadership of Vladimir the worst thug in the world. But it does not make any difference to the blind Republicans as long as they can stick to the power via legal or illegal mean. Not sure how do they sleep at night. Everything people need under con man’s corrupt regime is at stake- the air we breathe, water we drink, jobs and education we need. But the Republicans have become self centered creatures just living for today.
13
@Rm
Remember, they have money. If the country goes to hell, they can live out their lives free of the distresses that plague the common man.
1
Why do Republican politicians turn a blind eye to Trumpists depredation and looting?
Because they are invited to the trough, too.
17
Mr, Sandford does not remember or forget that this is the Republicans with Ronald Reagan who started the supply side or trickle down economic. Cut taxes, raise military spending and there will be so much economic activities that the debt will be magically gone with the wind. Of course never happen. GW Bush try it again. This time for the first time the USA went to war and cut taxes, when usually they raised taxes in war time. Now President Trump is trying supply side or trickle down economic on steroid. And the debt will reached stratospheric high and will not be gone with the wind. So Mr. Sanford should be back to school and learned about history and economics.
10
Mark Sanford - time to wake up. Your nonsense about Bernie and the Dems ruining our economy is a "zombie lie", a myth. You Repubs have been crying about deficits since Reagan began piling up the debt. When he entered the White House our cumulative debt in our first 200 years was $1Trillion. Reagan added $3T. Bush 1 added another $2T. Clinton (Dem) balanced the budget and reduced the debt, then left GWBush a projected $5T surplus. He slashed taxes for the wealthy and started the Iraq war leaving a projected deficit of $5T (a $10T negative turn from what Clinton left him) and left Obama a complete financial disaster for who had to run deficits to prevent a total collapse. Then your next Repub Pres - trumpty dumpty - lowered taxes for the wealthy (again) and is now running $1T deficits with a strong economy (created by Obama). I am sick and tired of these Repub lies over 40 years now - all they do is lower taxes for the wealthy, add to the military budget (in deference to the war contractors who donate untold billions to Repub politicians) and lie to the American people. They are stealing our common treasure and destroying our common home by pretending that science is a lie and the trump knows best - think climate catastrophe. Sanford, trump, McConnell - you are thoroughly corrupt and lying to America and the world. That is unless you are complete idiots - hmmm.
33
Mr. Sanford is a republican and so cannot be trusted. Of course they, being true conservatives, decry the deficit. But next they will say it is caused by america's costly safety net spending. Then they will try to destroy it in the name of fiscal responsibility. Oops! trump just did that. Do you love him now, mark?
9
Credit card capitalism. Corporations don't pay. The ultra-wealthy don't pay their share. The Republicans don't care and haven't in a long, long time.
Someone else's children will get stuck with the bill.
7
Conservatives only care about the national debt as a justification for cutting social welfare programs.
10
Mr. Sanford, your premise is flawed.
You are accurate in stating that your fellow Republicans are making excuses for Trump's deficits, reckless in a time of economic prosperity.
But your fellow Republicans are excusing and overlooking far more than that from Trump. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's abuse of office. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's abysmal foreign policy decisions. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trumps execrable, bigoted attacks on immigrants, legal and "illegal". Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's persistent racism. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's lying, and the deceit which is his normal behavior in matters large and small. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's habitual disregard of the truth regarding, well, anything. Your fellow Republicans are excusing Trump's flagrant conflicts of interest, and Trump's endless self-dealing and Trump's continual defrauding of the government and the taxpayers.
Your fellow Republicans are excusing a lot more from Trump than just Trump's reckless, foolish deficits. And there is no more excusing your fellow Republicans.
Vote Them All Out!
12
Tea Party Republicans have sold their soul.
With Apologies...
Sir Thomas More: Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Trump?
6
Sure, blame the huge deficits on spending, not tax cuts...
13
You just figured this out? I’m even more scared for republicans getting their heads straight anytime soon.
3
The main reason for the alleged dearth of Republicans complaining about the lack of budget restraint is the mistaken belief that the tea party was really for fiscal restraint. In reality it was only about the power.
11
So, Mr. Sanford, are you going to "hang in there" with Mr. Trump? I hope you're principled enough to vote for a candidate more grounded than the current occupant in the White House.
How about a truly successful businessman such as Michael Bloomberg. He's not perfect but certainly more hones and respectable.
5
Your fellow republicans are looking the other way in our constitution and laws. They have refused to protect this country from a lying treasonous criminal. They have been sucking down NRA laundered money from the Kremlin for years. They are letting their little idiot king betray our allies, extort our allies and invite foreign interference into our elections.
Seriously how can anyone still call themselves a republican these days and still look their children in the eye? Wherever decent intelligent people that were in that party have fled it by now. They call themselves democrats and independents now. Your party doesn't deserve to exist anymore. Your party will destroy every last thing that made this country great.
12
"People have a tragic flaw" if they don't remember why they voted Mr. Sanford a) into and b) out of office - a) for nothing (daddy's money) and b) for his lack of discipline and for being a liar. It's a boring Trumplestilzkin fighting a colorful Trumplestilzkin. After many decades of trickle-down economics, let's try trickle-up for a change. And the next Consernaive who opens his mouth and tries to talk balanced budgets gets the price for the biggest bigot (among all them "Evangelicals", that's a feat).
5
Whatever Mark Sanford is guilty of has been publicly exposed and he paid the price both personally and professionally. Multiply that by fifty plus territories and what do you add to the recipe of personal vendettas, cronyism, favors and backhanded lies and deceit equals Trumpism. You are witnessing that devolution of America. It was a shiny star while it lasted.
2
Never in the history of this country has the stock market been making new highs while the unemployment figures are at historical lows WHILE THE FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT IS EXPLODING.
This is much more than a canary in the mine. Young people will look back 50 years from now and be appalled at what this generation has done to this country.
This will not end on a high note.
13
“President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit”. Let’s be honest, what Conservatives like the author really mean is that Sanders would have the government spend on the “wrong” things: health care, education and climate action, as opposed to tax cuts for the wealthy, military spending and subsidies for big corporations.
21
@S. Jackson
i wish i could recommend this comment 800 times.
6
Did Mr. Sanford have another epiphany while lost on the Appalachian Trail? I ask, because he concentrates on the deficit while ignoring the rest of the traditional Republican playbook: Government is bad. Cut taxes by giving more to the rich (who will help re-elect you). Use the resulting deficit as an excuse to cut government spending. Then, when reduced government spending leaves government agencies doing a poor job, point out what a poor job government does and argue for privatization. Repeat.
Government debt is not new. By the end of the American Revolution, the new American government was up to its armpits in it, and George Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton to renegotiate our debt. We've been in debt ever since.
By itself, the amount of debt is not determinative of anything. We spent whatever he had to during WW2, because we had to; the alternative was worse. What -is- determinative is how the borrowed money is spent. It is the traditional status quo for Republicans to play Robbing Hood, taking from the poor to give to the rich as previously described, until they run the economy into the ground, at which point it is status quo for Democrats to take over, clean up the Republicans' mess, and engage in deficit spending that invests in our country and people and gives us a positive return.
Sanford criticizes Republicans for seeking a "newfound father" to do their thinking for them. That would be credible, except that Sanford then refers to Milton Friedman.
7
The country can survive a recession...4 more years of this garbage, probably not!
4
It is time to bring Dwight Eisenhower capitalism back, let's tax the rich (more than a million dollars per year) at a 95% rate! Get rid of loopholes for corporations. That will fix the deficit.
7
The real issue is why we are in such a strong economy but are running further and further in debt. If we are in such a strong economy, where is the money for fixing our roads and bridges, mass transit improvements and funding schools? It is all falling by the wayside for the idiotic wall and military spending. If the wars are ending, where does that money go? Geez.
What will happen when a recession actually hits? The economy will crash, 401(k)s will tank and the dollar will be worthless. On top of that, China will further impact the crisis by calling in our loans.
Republican are only fiscally responsible when Democrats are in charge. They haven’t been prudent in my entire lifetime.
11
This opinion piece is nothing more than the pot talking to the kettle. I thought it was pretty funny the other day when Goldman Sachs ex-CEO Lloyd Blankfein speculated that President Bernie Sanders would crash the economy.
My question to Lloyd Blankfein, "Would the crash be similar to the Great Depression attributable to Republican President Hebert Hoover or the Great Recession attributable Republican President George W. Bush?"
13
@Steve
even more rich, coming from GS, which actually DID crash the economy.
4
A truly courageous piece, now that you are out of office and out of the race for president. Have fun on the late-night liberal talk show tour and please say hi to Maher and Maddow for me.
3
Another reason why the Democrats will lose this year. They continue to rip into each other rather than calling Trump out on something conservatives (usially) care about.
Trump's already created the narrative that Dems are the socialist spenders.
2
@Sean Trump's a lying blowhard and everyone knows it. Only his delusional base buys his utter nonsense. He doesn't even know what the word socialist means. He is out of ammo. The only thing he can do is insult. That's it. No one believes a word he says. The only question that will be answered in the next election is what percentage of the country is so delusional they believe what the clown in the White House says.
6
Please just stop, STOP, claiming the Republican Party is the part of fiscal discipline. It is not nor has it been for over forty years. The only two presidents to actually reduce the deficit and leave a growing economy during that time were both Democrats, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Bush left us exploding deficits, the S&L crisis (Reagan and Bush) and the financial meltdown of 2008. (Bush). And these deficits are not Trump's, they're the GOP's. They're the direct result of your 2017 tax bill.
The question is not "why do your fellow Republicans make excuses for Trump's deficits," the question is why do the American people keep making excuses for and turning a blind eye to the Republican's decades-long hypocrisy on deficits? Why are you and your party allowed anywhere near the reins of government?
23
If you still publicly identify as a Republican after the Republican Senators abandoned our country then who cares what you think.
16
While the national debt and massive budget deficits are indeed a problem, they are not, as Mr. Sanford argues here, the biggest issue we face. We have a manifestly corrupt sociopath in the Oval Office who is making a mockery of the sine qua non of a democratic state: the rule of law. We are seeing abuse of power on a gargantuan scale. Republicans are just as silent and complicit in our slide into authoritarianism as they are in trump's economic recklessness.
12
News flash Mr. Sanford-
Republicans are only fiscally conservative when a democrat is in the White House.
Stop pretending otherwise, nobody’s buying it.
24
Well, Sanford voted for the “tax cuts and jobs bill” in 2017, so he’s one of the zombies he so strongly condemns.
12
The RNC North Star: "We got ours, you, not so much".
9
The solution is of course; elect a Democrat. The last two both lowered the deficit left by their Republican predecessor, and will President Bloomberg, who did so in NYC
6
But here's the thing - who do you think will end up wearing the deficit - Democrats, that's who . . .
4
How much the government spends should not be an issue. The real issue is what the government spends money on and whether it does in ways that helps all citizens live productive lives. A deficit that helps the wealthy increase their wealth at the expense of everybody else is grotesque both from an economic and a moral point of view.
10
Why are you continuing as a member of a Republican Party that you freely admit has totally lost it's way, Mr Sanford?
6
Not one word about the most irresponsible tax cut in history. Not one. For that reason, Mr. Sanford is a commentator with no clothes.
10
Why aren’t the Democrats ramming Trump’s deficit spending down his throat every second of every day? It’s right in front of them and they ignore it; just talk deficit all day every day and tell people what happens when the inevitable crash comes... and it’s the highest deficit in history. They will suffer and lose and suffer even more... it’s Trump’s biggest weakness... and it’s ignored.
4
The problem, Mr. Sanford, is that the conservative movement is dead and Donald Trump killed it. Republicans are no more conservative than the liberal who lives at the end of my street. Trump is not fiscally conservative nor is he morally conservative, two of the most important tenets to conservatism historically. What we now have is a sociopath who will do ANYTHING and say ANYTHING to wield as much power as he possibly can while making himself richer in the process. Trump is no conservative...not by a long margin.
9
The GOP campaign to bankrupt the United States began with Reagan in 1980. Trump is simply carrying on the GOP's plan. He doesn't care. They care very much. It's mostly about the demographics. In 1980, California's schools were about to become majority-minority, with the labor force and the voters soon to follow, first in California and then in the rest of the country. That's where "trickle-down" began, doubling the federal debt then doubling it again then doubling it yet again. The intent is to leave only scorched earth behind when the minorities in this country become the majority. Oh, and further enriching our 300 billionaires and 10 million millionaires. That, too.
6
Jeeze Thought this kind of thing only happened in places like Argentina. Guess the chickens are back home roosting again.
4
WHY??? Because they are chicken. They are scared, frightened. If they become a target of Trump and Mitch, they could lose their office, their trappings, whatever power and status they have been able to pry off with their fingernails! That's why.
3
You mean, why do they make excuses for his mental deficiencies?
No idea
3
Amazing how Gov Sanford went from a laughing stock that the dems mocked for his affair and hiking trip but now that he is anti Trump he is some sort of golden boy
1
Spending more on interest than defense. What else would flow from a draft dodger and epic deadbeat like DJT
2
ha ha the deficits that the Repubs are giving a pass to is the least of this countries worries. Right now you should be scared to death of the traitor that is in the white house has been given a license to go after anyone with the full force of the white house he doesn't like.
5
How does Mark Sanford qualify as a fiscal expert or someone deserving an op-ed opportunity in the Times? I can read faux conservative blather other places (or watch Fox News).
3
Republican MO...rack up the debt, when voted out, blame democrats for the debt
4
How refreshing to read something from a Republican that is just stupid and wrong, rather than stupid, wrong, and corrupt.
Public investment of the kind proposed by any of the Democratic presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, would be much better for our economy than the idiotic tax cut pushed through by Mr. Trump and his cult.
5
@Michael
.....which included Mr. Sanford.
1
Reagan/Bush1 tripled the National Debt. = Clinton balanced the Budget. = Bush 2 handed out a tax rebate and then blow out the Budget. = Trump cut taxes when the economy was doing fine, and blew out the Budget to one trillion per year.. .
Republicans “Whut ?????”
5
As a conservative, it's clear to me that the Republican party abandoned fiscal conservatism -- and every other type of non-religious-based conservatism -- in 1980.
There hasn't been a conservative Republican at the national level in 40 years, but it's kind of hysterical watching pretend "conservatives" like this author twisting himself in knots in order to pretend that "the left" has no fiscal discipline.
As far as I can tell, Democrats are the only party who are even *sometimes* willing to pay for the goodies they want, rather than passing trillions along to our great grandkids.
Republicans have no such concept of fiscal responsibility. It disappeared alongside their morality decades ago.
7
So why are you still a Republican?
4
Then you declare bankruptcy as many times as needed, isn’t it ?
Didn’t he do it like that ?
Ups, not sure how the USA will do that.
1
To suggest that Republicans have problems with federal deficits is laughable. Think Reagan, Bush Jr and Trump, all of whom were in charge when budget deficits exploded.
5
You lost me right here - What if other Republican presidents had abandoned the idea of trying to get to a balanced budget over the next 10 years?
This isn’t a question or a hypothetical. No Republican since Reagan has had this goal. The common goal has been to cut taxes, cut benefits to the non-rich, and enrich themselves through corruption. It’s not complicated. It’s not hypothetical.
4
The seeds of destruction are sown in every democracy when the politicians realize that they can buy your vote with your own money and doubly so when they realize they can do it with your children's money...
Deficits don't matter until they -really- do; just ask Greece now or anyone who lived through the 70s in Britain (when the IMF bailed the country out).
1
Mr. Sandford,
i will buy in your arguments if you change your position - a position to vote for Mr. Trump if he republicans nominates this unfit for president again. if you are that worried about the country you should not only nominate someone who can defeat mr. trump or vote for the democrat for the this election season if no gop candidate emerges as to take over the party from mr. trump.
3
I agree that “such persistent debt will have enormous consequences for national security”. But to say it would be worse under a President Sanders is disingenuous. Take back the enormous Trump tax cuts and slash the ridiculous department of war budget and we can pay for some of Sanders’ social plans.
3
The basic premise of this article is mistaken. The present administration, and the path our nation has chosen, is not based on reality, it is based on narcissism.
2
The Republicans are like going to dinner with that friend who "forgot his wallet" when the bill comes..
5
Eventually we reach the sweet spot where CEO Trump files for bankruptcy and/or files suit against everybody, then hands the whole imbroglio off to the infamous LAW FIRM : Dewey, Cheatam, & Howe in order to muddy the water for a decade.
1
Mr. Sanford, do you really think that budget deficits are the GOPs only sin? And you give no specifics as to HOW you would rein in the deficit. Would you raise taxes and if so, on whom? Presumably, as a Republican, you would cut spending. But where? By how much?
If you want to fix this nation's problems, start by reading Mann and Ornstein's "It's Even Worse Than It Looks". After that, you won't have to become a Democrat, but, if you have a brain, a heart and soul you will quit the Republican party.
2
I'm mre curious how Republican party will survive after Trump.
Trump supporters are not necessarily Republican supporters, are they?
2
“If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten.”
Obama worked a deal to balance the budget, but your party and Paul Ryan toppled it. You’re late to your party’s party: the GOP is enjoying exactly what it’s always wanted: low taxes and subsidies for the rich. “Balance the budget” has always just been code for cutting spending on entitlements and discretionary-non military spending...Like food for poor kids.
Whatever, Mr. Sandford: Republicans have shown themselves to be a morally bankrupt tribe. Neither patriotic nor American; just a bunch of privileged white males, hoarding their Svengali riches.
4
Mr. Sanford,
While I respect your desire to reduce the deficit and debt, your comment that if other Republican presidents abandoned a balance budget over ten years that they would face party sanction from Congress is not representative of the Republican Party over the past 40 years.
Reagan massively expanded both debt and deficit with nary a peep. Bush Sr. tried to reduce both and was shellacked. Bush Jr. blew big holes in both without any serious Republican pushback, not even when his VP, Dick Cheney, said "deficits don't matter."
Cutting government spending has not been a serious Republican policy priority for decades - excepting when a Democrat has been in the White House.
2
Sanford was a devout Republican when Reagan/ Bush purposely bankrupted the country.
Where was he then? It's a little late for outrage.
2
Mr. Sanford, it should be obvious that the power and privilege that the Republicans have amassed is completely intoxicating to them, and they will lie, cheat and betray their country to keep it.
1
Climate change. There is no bigger issue.
1
There is no excuse. They are just swamp monsters, like Trump and those pardoned by him.
1
I suppose articles like this and signed letters from career politicians and civil servants denouncing this administration are valuable for posterity, but they are ineffective in influencing the current Republican White House and Congress.
Said plainly, you cannot shame the shameless.
1
Your admonitions are hardly convincing. The GOP has been THE party of deficits for decades. Its a specialty ... just plot real deficit p/capita by party tenure over the post WWII period since Ike ...
Its very simple Mark. If you want to be a credible fiscal scold, tell the GOP to stop with the wealth concentrating, deficit financed tax cuts for wealthy households ... that, de facto, never pay for themselves. Until that nonsense stops, the GOP will continue to be a gut-wrenching failure.
2
I always wonder what happened to all those Tea Party people screaming about the deficit under Pres Obama, but now silent and apparently content.
The only conclusion is that these folks are simply racists - concern about the budget was just an excuse to attack a black president.
3
Unbelievable!! Every Republican president passes tax cuts for the wealthy, runs up the deficit uses that as a reason to try to justify cutting the meager safety nets the US has. Every Democratic president has to fix the mess. Mr. Sanford, you are not delusional so that makes you the worse kind of liar! If Sanders or Warren become president then our safety net gets strengthened and corporations and the rich, who have been robbing us blind for 40+ years will need to pay up. From Reagan's trickle down theory, to supply side economics, it has been all lies. Democrats have been the responsible ones. Your editorial is a disgrace and another excuse to continue destroying the middle and working class.
3
The debt, per se, isn't Trump's mistake. The borrowing is at low interest.
His mistake, and the GOP's dangerous failure, is that it just goes to tax cuts for the wealthy.
Nothing new to show for it. Infrastructure? Basic science funding? Green energy? Nope. None of that.
And those investments would generate wealth to pay back the interest. But no. Just "investing" bigger trust funds, larger golden parachutes, and marginal consumption of the same old stuff.
You're complaining about the wrong end of it. Debt is fine, if invested well and not squandered.
5
It is hard to wrap one's mind around a trillion of anything but try this as a thought exercise: One trillion seconds is more than 31,000 YEARS! That is more than six times all of recorded history.
It matters what the deficit is spent for. Sanders might incur one for the safety net, but mostly he will raise taxes. Trump just flushes it down the billionaire drain.
12
Obama was the first Democratic president since Roosevelt (who was running WW II) who did not balance the budget, and he brought the deficit down dramatically from what he inherited. No Republican president since Eisenhower has balanced the budget. Any Democrat would be better for our fiscal health than any Republican. While democrats do advocate for greater spending on domestic issues, they also always propose ways to pay for it. Republicans just cut taxes and borrow to make up the difference. Also, Republicans always look to programs that help people when they do actually try to bring spending down.
7
Alive since Truman, there has not been one GOP person elected to Congress who has been serious about any deficit, Sanford included. Oh, they make nice speeches, but never in my life has any Republican told the truth about anything.
15
Republicans benefit from crashing the economy. Vultures scoop up assets at fire sale prices, like housing in 2008. Then they build no more houses, and profit from renting us what used to be ours.
And all the time, they blame Democrats. It’s been a good ride for them.
8
Is it any surprise Republicans have abandoned fiscal conservative behaviour when their sole driving economic direction is to reduce taxes and increase spending, all at the direction of McConnell.
6
Thank you, Mr. Sanford. Hearing reality from a Republican makes a strong point. I hope people will listen.
3
But it's a zombie idea. (See Krugman post.)
He's worried about the wrong problem. It's okay to borrow if you invest in something productive. Trump and the GOP are borrowing and stuffing already golden mattresses.
3
Thanks? Republicans have always played both sides of this one. One comment seared in my mind is Newr Gingrich after advocating for a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget upon becoming house majority leader decided to abandon that cause because times have changed.
The real crime is that Republican leaders could have increased the debt for infrastructure improvements to allow for future growth. Instead in this low interest rate environment debt is through the roof to finance huge tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.
6
I'm very sorry that I voted for Reagan twice. And if I'd been in the country then, I'd be apologizing now for voting for HW Bush.
I came to my senses in 2003 when Bush/Cheney invaded Iraq the second time. What's your excuse, Mr. Sanford, for still supporting the Republican Party?
9
If we are going to reduce our deficits it will take less spending and increased revenue. Corporate America increasingly pays little or no taxes yet benefit from tax expenditures. Apple pays little in taxes since it funnels its vast profits through Ireland. Yet underpaid American sailors on taxpayer purchased ships keep the sea lanes open. It is time for corporate America to pay its fair share.
As for spending, we need to cut off the welfare red states like Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi. They take in many times as many dollars as they send to Washington.
7
So Sanford votes for the tax cut that is ballooning the deficit and is now moaning about the deficit? Medicare, Social Security? Be afraid....be very afraid.
9
This is nothing new for the Republican party. It's a constant. What has changed is the argument because they don't really need an argument for anything anymore. They just need a cocktail of tweets, rallies, a couple of makeshift graphs and a stable genius. Those of us on the other end of the spectrum understand the importance of deficits during a recession. We just don't understand how we (they) took us here during a boom under the auspice of "conservative"
4
This all part of the plot, planning. Your op-ed included. Run-up big deficits by giving to the wealthy. Cry crisis, and take from the poor. Taxes stay the same. Obvious for all to see.
10
Comparing US foreign owned debt to the debt burdens of Argentina and Zimbabwe is ludicrous, since the debt of both countries was financed by the IMF and had to be repaid in US currency and not their local currencies.
Whereas the foreign purchase of US Bond and Treasury notes are dollar denominated transactions, and in theory at least the US can just print money to repurchase the government issued securities, that is assuming countries with over 40% of US debt would make the idiotic decision to dump their US securities, which would have the effect of reducing the value of their US holdings.
It's like the old saying "if you owe the bank $1000, you have a problem, but if you owe the bank $1,000,000, the bank has a problem.
2
@Jim What happens when the rest of the world no longer accepts this?
So, Sanford, how did YOU vote for the tax cut? I assume you voted YES and that now you are recommending cutting SS and MC instead of reversing the tax cut. Hello?
13
In the 90s Federal spending was reduced from 22% of GDP down to 18%. Taxes went up (a little). Interest rates went up. One entitlement was significantly reduced (welfare). The result- a balance budget and a booming economy. (It's true the 90s expansion was not at long as the current expansion, but overall growth was much higher).
In the 00s we cut taxes, fought 2 wars and created a new entitlement (Medicare Part D). The result was a return to deficits, a housing bubble and a severe financial crisis.
Austerity is the key to prosperity.
1
@Joe Public - Here is what austerity has brought us:
The federal government has balanced the budget, eliminated deficits for more than three years, and paid down the debt more than 10% in just six periods
since 1776, bringing in enough revenue to cover all of its spending during 1817-21, 1823-36, 1852-57, 1867-73, 1880-93, and 1920-30. The debt was paid
down 29%. 100%, 59%, 27%, 57%, and 38% respectively. A depression began in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893 and 1929.
Let's look at the recent financial crisis of 2008. In the 1990's our trade deficit expanded. By about 1996, the amount of money flowing out of the private sector, indeed, out of the country exceeded the amount flowing in from the federal government--the trade deficit exceeded the federal deficit.
Except for a brief period in 2003, this outflow continued until 2008. During this period the deficit was too small.
As in the previous six cases, the shortage of money in the private sector caused private debt to explode, and the banking sector became way over leveraged. Only huge infusions of money from the FED directly to the banks saved us from another 1929, but it wasn't pretty. The Clinton surpluses combined with the too small Bush deficits pushed the economy off a cliff.
Apart from getting the title of McKay’s book wrong, Mr Sanford neglects to mention that deficit spending is a Republican specialty.
It was in fact the much despised (by the GOP, not by me) Bill Clinton who was most successful in combining a reduced deficit with a growing economy.
6
Another way to wreck our economy and starve us is simply to build a wall and surpress immigration. Sanford does not address this issue here.
I would not be surprised to learn that Trump's Follie, aka The Border Wall, is being built from components made overseas.
The black paint is designed to fry Mexicans, our neighbors to the south, who just want to work and support their families. Trump just said that he wanted to hurt them. We heard him say that at one of his campaign rallies this past week. Originally Trump's stated that his intension was economic, that poor Mexicans were taking jobs away from poor Americans (that the GOP was not interested in educating anyway). But Trump's intensions against immigrants are physical, too, starting with their children. He locked them up to inflict greater misery on whole families. If his intensions are not physical, he could stop the flow of US made weapons south across the US border that are killing Mexicans in Mexico which causing them to flee to the relative safety of the US in the first place. The Trump party is silent. The flow of weapons south is good for business in the boardrooms north.
Trump's original policy was to surpress immigration. But what if his ultimate intention is to surpress migration? Russia did it, North Korea does it.
3
The Blue states are our national economy. The Red states are the antithesis of Blue states innovation, income growth, wealth accumulation and business strength. The Red states are not innovators, incomes are dropping, wealth is dissipating and business is soft.
7
I agree that Republicans are enabling Trump to cut taxes and increase spending to dramatically increase the national debt. Heck, they aren't just enabling, they are cheering him on.
But Mr. Sanford is utterly falsifying the recent past when he claims that Republicans would "howl" if other Republican Presidents had abandoned their allegedly trying to get a balanced budget. LOOK AT THE FACTS, specifically the SIMPLE FIGURES.
When Ronald Reagan took office the entire national debt was less than nine hundred billion dollars - a lot less than the current ANNUAL DEFICIT under Trump. He almost tripled that amount while in office, and the Republicans cheered. George H W Bush in just four years added almost as much debt as Reagan had in eight, and Republicans cheered. When Bill Clinton left office, the country was running a surplus, starting to pay off that debt. Immediately on taking office George W Bush put a stop to that, and raised the debt more than Reagan or Bush had. Recent Democrats are not saints, but on the issue of the national debt most of them set a standard that their Republican successors would NEVER aspire to.
7
Let's do this argument right: government under Republicans shifts the economic benefits upward by legislative and anti-regulatory corruption and targetted tax cuts.
The cruel use of the debt to shred the safety net is where the argument leads. We subsidize oil to the point we provide their obscene profits. Yet we weaken labor, ship away jobs with no plan to safeguard communities, we take away pensions and healthcare and attack any program the government administers.
The economic truth about laissez faire and romanticized freedom is that is brings on an uncivilized darwinism that those without power suffer. One man, one vote is displaced by Citizens United and the economy works to achieve income inequalities that fail to project the value of contributions and reflect raw political power instead.
The real argument is how do we humanize society, allow all an opportunity to thrive and prevent personal calamities like bankruptcy due to medical care. Once our priorities are straight, then we determine the fairest way to pay for it.
Less government is the holy grail only of those who believe in their own superiority and hold no empathy for their fellow man, much less see prosperity as an ideal that is to be shared through effort,dignity with value accorded by some other force than a market and politics that has veen corrupted through undue influence.
9
"Milton Friedman said years ago that the ultimate measure of government was what it spent."
A prime example of the adage " knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing", just like most of the current Republicans.
5
Trump is a master of bankruptcy. He survives by stiffing his creditors and emerges to go bankrupt again. The solution to our national debt is not to pay it. The subsequent collapse of the international financial order provides exactly the chaos in which Trump thrives. Financial types should be terrified of him, but tax cuts have so far quieted their nerves.
Trump would emerge triumphant from such a financial meltdown. He would blame it on the international bankers (perhaps the Jewish ones) and the deep state and the financial New York titans who became stupid enough not to bankroll him. He would promise his supporters that he would lead them in getting revenge, and that winners like them would no longer have to bail out the losers.
8
Deficits only matter when Democrats are in control of government, didn't you get the memo.
8
Mr. Sanford, while I appreciate you bringing Trump's devastating financial policies to light, you forgot to mention two people who had a lot to do with giving tax credits to the 1% (which includes you I might add) - Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.
You're retired, so you're relatively safe from Trump's retaliatory tweets, but why don't you also put the blame on Republicans in Congress who devised this financial death spiral for the country?
Answer, Mr. Sanford?......Here are those crickets again.
13
“Deficits”? Now that’s an intriguing understatement. In any case, Mr. Sanford, one is the company one keeps.
4
Sanford has not realized that Republican behavior shows that they do not care about the deficit as a fiscal threat. When Democrats are in power, it is a cudgel to beat them with, preventing them from spending money on programs that will buy them votes by helping ordinary people. When Republicans are in power, deficits are a tool to buy votes from the rich and people who think of themselves as rich or going to get rich. And if the deficits get big enough, they can justify or even necessitate slashing the safety net and getting rid of the socialism of Social Security and Medicare.
We have been warned about the immediate danger of deficits for decades now, but what is warned about never happens. Even if it happens in the future, the warnings were incorrect because they said it would happen in the past; a stopped clock is right twice a day. The worry about deficits is easy to sell and a very effective political weapon, but it does not reflect reality.
3
Correction Mr Sanford. The Republicans are MAKING it happen (the countries drive toward financial ruin). As many have noted, they have been MAKING it happen since Ronald Regan. Clinton ran a surplus, Obama made headway after Bush II blew up the deficit and debt with an unpaid for and un-neccesary war (based on a pile of cooked-up justifications) coupled with an expansion of government into black-operations / security, and by letting NON-REGULATED parties in the financial sector send us spiraling into a recession with their motgage-backed securities, which, had it not been for the action of now EX-REPUBLICAN Ben Bernake, would have been much, much worse. Like it or not, the Democrats are, and have been, the fiscal conservatives for quite some time now.
9
I am hoping for a GOP bloodbath next election. People are fed up with Washington. My Senators are Democrats. If they were part of the GOP I'd do everything I could to see them ousted. We need a thorough house cleaning in DC.
6
Good piece, but too little too late. You must face the fact that your entire party has joined the Borg, and resistance is not only useless, but unwelcome.
6
This is rich. Let’s start by rolling back Trump’s disastrous tax cuts.
10
The Right always talks about fiscal responsibility but while they are in office, from Reagan to Trump, the deficit is drastically increases, because ultimately they like tax cuts more then they dislike deficits. It takes a Democratic president to move towards a balanced budget, because they are ultimately the ones who are fiscally responsible, because they are the ones who will raise taxes to pay for what this country wants and is not willing to give up like medicare, social security, and a healthcare system that is affordable for everyone. Bernie if he makes it to the presidency won't raise the deficit he will raise taxes and the Republicans will scream BLOODY MURDER.
5
At the bazaar of ideas, the Republicans always arrive early and set up by the gate. Their product is simple and comes with the trappings of patriotism and the paraphernalia of the tribe. No more worries about the others cutting in line or grabbing an extra dessert.
A booth away, the Democrats can't raise sufficient interest in an extra scoop for all and much less debt to service.
Consider the work of Rush Limbaugh, legendary salesman and undeserving Medal of Freedom recipient
El Rusbo yoked his listeners to the past, placed chips on their shoulders, and sent them snapping in circles after the fears and resentments he cultivated. All the while, the rich compensated themselves directly for... being rich.
He lied constantly, inventing “fake news,” and imagining a seditious academic/liberal/cosmopolitan “elite” bent on elevating the alien over the American, black and brown over white, and compensating the lazy from the pockets of the industrious.
Limbaugh asked his listeners to dig in their heels, lower their gazes, and follow his lead.
He single-handedly turned millions of fellow citizens into angry self-basters.
They half-knew the con all along, but when a better showman came down the escalator they went all in. One last roll for everything.
GOP larceny continues apace, while Limbaugh's lessons are recapitulated as a long, loud, malign burlesque.
When the audience comes later after what is on offer today, they'll call themselves freedom fighters.
5
Spare us the Milton Friedman quotes. And the deficit reduction will begin in earnest, during the emperor's second term, when he and the party that looks the other way, slashes and burns Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and anything else that they can get their hands on. It's part of the long con they've been perpetrating for decades. These same folks who hammered Obama, relentlessly, during the Great Recession, about the deficit are now perfectly content to see it skyrocket, so they can claim, with straight faces, that austerity is the only way and that we'll all just have to make some sacrifices.
4
"Milton Friedman said years ago that the ultimate measure of government was what it spent. By this account the administration has been a gut-wrenching failure." This is not the only measure by which this administration is a failure. It is a failure because it denigrates anyone who is not in the "in" crowd: women, immigrants, people of color, even gold star parents. It is a failure because it puts building a wall ahead of the wellbeing of our military as Trump steals money from the military to build the wall he said Mexico would pay for. It is a failure because no president has ever lied more to the American people, now 17000 lies and counting in only 3 years. It is a failure because it leans fascist and authoritarian and because Trump meddles in legal cases in and outside of the military, meting out favors rather than justice. And that's just for starters.
But you, Mr. Sanford, blame Democrats when you know it's not true. Democrat Barack Obama averted a second Great Depression that was caused by George W. Bush and brought on an era of prosperity that Trump and Republicans now claim as their own. Yet it's undeniably true that Republican economics have caused recession after recession that Democrats have "fixed," only to see Republicans cause them again.
6
Japan has a massive deficit, too,
but they borrow within their country. The US has a massive deficit, but the money is borrowed from overseas, not from their own American citizens living within the country. That's the big problem. The bigger problem is that Americans can't save money in their own economy because of the high cost of housing and health care and the low return on their labor. This has wiped out savings.
The GOP is fixated on the wrong issues and needs to stay out of our bedrooms. They have destroyed the economy every time they get into the White House and then the next Democrat inherits a hot mess.
The high clean up cost of maintaining the 2nd amendment is also killing the economy.
Government policy flipping between the two parties has resulted in a bust-war-boom-bust-war cycle, ad nauseam. What's the pattern? The presidents have all been men. We must break the cycle in 2020.
We must try new things.
We need to build more political parties. The Real GOP was hijacked by the worst representatives of American society. The greedy, the racist, the beloved "poorly educated" that keep the GOP in power all barged in and took it over and handed it to Trump. Make the Trump party legitimate.
And we need to elect a woman to be President. A long line of men in the office has led to a US crisis. This is no place for children.
Current & former Senators Romney, Sanford and Flake should lay down the values that they claim underlie the Real GOP
and reboot the party.
1
If deficits were mostly the result of responsible infrastructure spending, responsible health care, educationl, housing and supplementary food assistance -- and if the wealthiest among us weren't given the benefits of almost all of the tax breaks and of all of the tax loopholes, our budget deficits would be both worthwhile and manageable.
Your Republican Party's hypocrisy, Mr. Sanford, is greater than the National Debt, and the 'looming' National Debt.
5
There are no Republicans in Washington, other than Mitt Romney (part time) with a shred of integrity, a shred of honor, a touch of morality.
7
This op-ed is longer than it needs to be. Why do Republicans make excuses for the ballooning debt? Because Republicans don't really care about debt. They only care about power. It's the same answer for why Republicans don't care about Mark Sandord. No need to over-think it.
This op-ed is longer than it needs to be. Why do Republicans make excuses for the ballooning debt? Because Republicans don't care about the debt. They only care about power. It's the same answer for why Republicans don't care about Mark Sanford. No need to over-think it.
1
Reading between the lines, you are essentially saying: "Mr. Trump failed to carry on the effective tax policy of his predecessor, Barack Obama. After pushing through a stimulus package to pull the economy out of a terrible recession, he raised taxes modestly on the rich, cut taxes for the middle class, and saw a gradual decline in deficits towards the end of his term, which also saw continual job growth. We should return to this approach today."
Just say it!
8
Jerry Brown, iirc, referred to Bill Clinton as a "pander bear" during a presidential campaign (complete with prop). Bill Clinton won, and in the grand scheme, we all lost. Without electing Clinton, we probably would not have had to suffer a President Trump.
Opening the floodgates on public spending has been so corrosive to our politics and the small "e" economy that the macroeconomic effects seem like little more than a rounding error.
We are borrowing the world from our children, not spending an inheritance from our parents. This applies to the natural world, and it applies to our political and economic system.
@Alan It was Paul Tsongas who referred to Bill Clinton in this way.
Cheer up. Your grandchildren are going to die from the effects of climate change long before the bill is due. You make a good point congressman, but you're a little late to the party.
9
"Winning" is all you need to know, Mark Sanford. That means something akin to blind loyalty to a losing football team. The fans get to whoop and holler and rub their opponents noses in the ground all in the name of winning, er losing.
2
Deficits only matter when Democrats are in office. I thought everyone knew this.
13
Just want to point out that under democrats, the government has achieved balanced budgets and much lower deficits. But as soon as republicans get their hands on the democrats responsible budgets with surpluses, they want to hand it over to their wealthy friends in the form of tax cuts to their business pals. They call down economics, the problem is it never trickles down the tax cuts turn into stock buybacks and bonuses for themselves and the rest trickles over to off shore banking enterprises.
I’m an independent but I haven’t voted for a republican in years because they have all lost their minds.
14
Geez - a trillion dollars per year in interest payments on our national debt - and who does it go to?
The banks, international money launderers, and nameless investors who know a good thing when it's been carefully packaged and presented by the Trump Asylum and their GOP enablers.
A shrewd move for the 1%, who clearly don't have enough wealth so far.
8
China is the biggest buyer of US debt. And this could be a huge concern in the futures
3
Don't worry! This potus has a well worn strategy for that: don't pay your creditors! I have seen so many disgraceful actions since the beginning of this millennium in this country, most if not all by GOP, that I wouldn't be surprised if we stood up our creditors next. What are they going to do? Attack us? We have the best armed forces... er, wait, are we paying them enough or are we busy paying interest or paying the rich with more tax cuts?
2
The worst thing about Trump's deficits is that he is spending them on non-productive whims: tax cuts for the super-rich, corporate welfare for multi-billion-dollar corporations, a "space force" (what????) and other goodies for an already bloated "defense" department, and stepped-up anti-immigrant mechanisms, including a border wall and militarized ICE forces, not to mention taking his entire entourage on incredibly frequent golfing vacations.
If he had spent the same amount on productive investments, such as repairing and modernizing our infrastructure (shockingly decrepit in the Eastern cities, including New York), affordable housing, conversion to non-fossil energy, universal health care, and equalization of educational opportunities nationwide, we might finally catch up with the other industrialized countries. Not only that: The income earned from these productive projects would bolster our tax base.
9
The best part of this opinion piece is that Paul Krugman's opinion piece today points out just what a bunch of nonsense Mark Sanford is trying to push here. In fact Krugman calls the idea that the national deficit is going to drive us to financial ruin a zombie idea that stalled the recovery from the 2008 recession. Well we all should known by now, based on the fact that the deficits have always risen under republican administrations, that Mark Sanford is just trying to sell the same old snake oil that republicans have pushed since Reagan. Give it up Sanford, no one is buying it any longer and as you point out not even republicans at this point.
1
@Mark Hutton
Your taking some of Krugmans articles out of context. What Krugman has said, is that if you’re going to deficit spend, then it might as well be on infrastructure, etc. Corporations need infrastructure to ship, to bring in raw materials and so on, but they don’t want to be taxed to help pay for infrastructure, they want working class to pay for it. This is what needs to change, taxation isn’t the only for the working class, it’s for the rich and elite alike.
4
@James funny, your comment is absolutely irrelevant to the point I was making and doesn’t detract from my point in anyway. So what is your point exactly besides wanting to pontificate?
I had to read the article. What kind of deficits? Financial, moral, ethical, intellectual ...
Of course it is financial.
5
"What is accumulating is deadly: Bad finances kill countries. There is no bigger issue." No matter what your favorite issue is, the debt threatens everything--national defense, social programs, climate crisis, disaster relief. A day will come (an pandemic perhaps?) when the money won't exist when we need it. The wealthy and corporations must pay their fare share of taxes.
3
I agree with much of what the Author says, but I think the whole Republican Party can be viewed through the prism of this incidental observation that he makes,
"Our children, and their children, will have fewer and fewer life choices and chances, thanks to our profligate spending."
While I don't deny the logic of this statement, I wonder why he bothers to make it here. One could equivalently ask why do the Republicans never seriously formulate a Health Care plan? Or worry about gun control? Or try to prevent corporations from polluting our environment? ANSWER: Because when you're independently wealthy, and represent individuals and corporation owners that are too, you represent a constituency:
--that has children who will never want for material goods,
--that can pay cash for any required healthcare,
--that can surround themselves with bodyguards, and
--that can fly away to another country whenever it suits them.
In short, you represent the 1%, and nobody else.
7
@Lou S
But what happens when your economy collapses, regardless of how much wealth you have, it can become worthless. Just look to Britain after WWI. The economy was nonexistent, so where did the government get their cash, from Aristocrats. Remember they would have been the equivalent of billionaires today, they owned the land as far as they could see, the tenant farmers, we called them sharecroppers here. The tenant farmers and the economies they created in these villages went for the most part to the land lord, many of the people living in the villages worked in service to the land lord at their Abbey on the hill. The Aristocrats paid very little in taxes, the working class took care of that.
After WWI, every thing changed, the Aristocrats we suddenly handed huge tax bills, and much higher tax rates, they had to sell vast tracts of the land that had been in their control for hundreds of years. In fact Princess Diana came from Aristocrat lineage. Today, many of the big abbeys like Highclere (aka Downton Abbey) all of those homes were in fact monasteries. King Henry VIII disbanded monasteries sold to them off to the wealthy land owners.
Mr. Sanford: No doubt your column resonates with NY Times readers because any criticism of Trump usually does the trick. But you are dead-wrong when you castigate the Democrats for profligate spending. Look at the numbers, my friend. Compare Carter/Clinton/Obama to Reagan/Bush 2/Trump. The deficits and debt skyrocket during Republican administrations (even when we consider that Obama’s stimulus which was necessary to drag us out of a near depression that he had nothing to do with. My fear, on behalf of Seniors, the debt caused by your party’s irresponsible spending will become their excuse to make draconian cuts to social security and Medicare which have been incredibly successful programs in keeping Seniors from eating dog food in their old age.
6
Another Republican deficit explosion, and the talk is a Democratic candidate as a worse option? Please strive for responsible argument, which this article is not.
5
Mr. Sanford, while I disagree with your political principles, I do believe you a least have them (principles), unlike Trump.
But the question you ask has long since been answered, and it his this: other than Mitt Romney, you no longer have colleagues that are Republicans. They are cult members, with their only 'principle' slavish devotion to their godlike cult leader.
Good luck with that, since you helped in demonizing everyone that did not agree with your ideas.
4
Mr. Sanford, why not ask why your fellow Republicans make excuses for Trump's trashing of the Constitution and the rule of law? Why not ask why only one Republican in Congress had the moral courage to honor his or her oath to protect the Constitution?
4
Republican partisan hypocrisy, especially as it relates to politicizing fiscal policy is not a new development. The only responsible way to counter this burgeoning debt pile is to raise taxes to sane levels. New tax brackets need to be added on the upper end of the tax tables.
2
Perhaps Trump doesn't care about the national debt because about 2/3 of it is owed to affluent investors. Trump is the poster boy for the affluent: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-who-owns-a-record-2121-trillion-of-us-debt-2018-08-21
No one who voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the last two budget busting defense appropriations bills has any standing to whine about being a lonely voice for fiscal restraint.
That especially includes you, Mr. Sanford.
3
The current republicans are forcing me to vote for even Bernie Sanders, who I absolutely cannot stand, and who's followers desperately wish not to have to do any real work.
And yet, we must have someone in the White House who believes in the constitution, and it is clear Trump does not. If it comes down to Socialism vs Fascism, I'm going to choose Socialism. But COME ON, what a position to put us in. Get a grip, Republicans, and get some guts to stand up to this guy. That, or get out,
6
Both parties should read this article.
Our poor kids and grand kids - meant in both senses of the word.
3
Going to use a conservative talking point here. "Democrats are Tax and Spend", the implication is that Democrats raise taxes in order to pay for their programs. What do Republicans do? What did Reagan, Bush, Bush 2 do? Borrow and spend, they spend money on military and tax cuts for the wealthy then put it on the national credit card. The economy is doing well, we should be paying down the deficit. Without doing that, how will we survive the next crisis. I don't know who will win the next election but one thing I do know, if a Dem wins, starting Jan 22, Republicans will start complaining about the deficit they created.
6
So true. They only whine about the debt when democrats are running the show. Republicans never seem to learn from their mistakes about ‘trickle down economics’ or giving money to corporations will make them hire people. Republicans are financial morons.
By the way, Mark Sanford, I’m glad you the courage of your convictions and have principles but it may take a large tax increase on the wealthy to bail the debt out and put this country straight.
3
I don't know if what is said about a deficit under Sanders is true but regardless, under him or any Democrat we would actually GET something for it. What has Trump given us as he's driven the deficit through the roof? 99% of us have gotten crumbs, while the military gets more bloated and the truly wealthy get even more so.
3
There are zero facts to support Sanford's contention that a President Sanders would make the deficit worse. At a minimum, President Sanders would spend the deficit funding to improve the lives of American people in terms of health care, affordable education and infrastructure repair instead of giving the funds away to wealthy corporations and individuals.
4
Why? You never addressed that, but rather continued to describe the problems. I read your article because of the title and because I thought you might have some insight into why your fellow R’s have such a puzzling and troubling non-reaction to the child in the WH. But, alas, you did not, signifying once again, how absolutely out of touch you and your fellow politicians are with the real fears and concerns of Americans. All you did here was define what we already know.
4
@Anne The purpose of this kind of article "criticizing" Trump is really just to trot out the "Sanders would be worse" bogey-man.
5
What a joke, saying Republican's are fiscally responsible. The lying can't stop, even lies about the lies!
8
"Some of my conservative friends, when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit."
Really???
3
The original deficit in regards to Trump, and which you completely overlook, is that of morals and brains,.but perhaps that’s because a deficit means there was something there to begin with.
The only thing that Trump has the slightest interest in is Trump, and how to enable himself to continue to gaze lovingly at his own reflection.
2
The Republican party has completely lost its mind. Finally we have a few Republican souls who are willing to begin to challenge the status quo. You have your work cut out for you my friend, since a significant % of the country seems to be unable to think critically or do the basic math that when money going out > money coming in, you have a problem.
Guess that educational 'dumbing down' that the Republicans have championed for years is finally working.
2
Sanford is not the right person to be talking about such an important issue. He is still most famous for his behavior while in office as Governor of South Carolina. We desperately need more people in politics discussing this problem, but not someone whose claim to fame is running off to have an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina.
2
Trump's lawlessness is curiously less compelling to Sanford than budget deficits.
This column can readily serve as a template for Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden, and Bloomberg to throw cold water on progressive aspirations for health care, education, and infrastructure.
It's not that difficult to call for a greater public commitment to a baseline of basic human needs, which could be easily underwritten by increased taxes on those who have benefited tremendously from tax cuts over the past few decades.
Democratic nominees for POTUS who fashion themselves as fiscal conservatives are far too wedded to yesteryear's playbook.
3
1. We need money to conduct commerce.
2. As the economy grows we need more money.
3. Money can come into the private sector from 2 places--the federal gov or from a trade surplus. This kind of money is called High Powered Money (HPM). HPM can't be destroyed within the private sector.
4. In addition, banks create a different kind of money, Low Powered Money (LPM) when they make loans. This is sometimes called credit money because it is merely a promise to deliver HPM on demand. Thus banks have to have some HPM to use as reserve before they can make loans.
5. When the federal gov spends, it sends money to the private sector. When it taxes, it takes money out of the private sector. A current account (trade +investments) deficit also takes money out. Thus the deficit measures the net flow of money from the federal gov to the private sector.
6. But to aid in domestic commerce, the money must be useful. A Billion dollars sitting in Scrooge McDuck's basement does the economy little good. The usefulness of money is measured by its velocity, the frequency in which it changes hands in domestic commerce. The Trump tax cuts sent most of the money to the Rich where it has low velocity since the Rich spend a smaller percentage of their income & use more for financial speculation.
7. So in order to get the new money the private sector needs, the federal deficit must be larger than the current account deficit. We have a large current account deficit. We need a large federal deficit.
8. If the above is correct, periods of negative deficits, surpluses, which pay down the federal debt should lead to a bad economy unless there is a large current account surplus. They have:
The federal government has balanced the budget, eliminated deficits for more than three years, and paid down the debt more than 10% in just six periods since 1776, bringing in enough revenue to cover all of its spending during 1817-21, 1823-36, 1852-57, 1867-73, 1880-93, and 1920-30. The debt was paid down 29%. 100%, 59%, 27%, 57%, and 38% respectively. A depression began in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893 and 1929.
This accounts for all of our depressions (six quarters of decreasing per capita GDP). In all of US history, significantly paying down the federal debt has always led to disaster.
9. Let's look at the recent financial crisis of 2008. In the 1990's our trade deficit expanded. By about 1996, the amount of money flowing out of the private sector, indeed, out of the country exceeded the amount flowing in from the federal government--the trade deficit exceeded the federal deficit. Except for a brief period in 2003, this outflow continued until 2008. As in the previous six cases, the shortage of money in the private sector caused private debt to explode, and the banking sector became way over leveraged. Only huge infusions of money from the FED directly to the banks saved us from another 1929, but it wasn't pretty. The Clinton surpluses combined with the too small Bush deficits pushed the economy off a cliff. (In addition, spending under Bush produced low velocity money.)
10. On the other hand, in 1946 we had the largest debt ratio in our history. The public debt ratio was 40% larger than today. We had deficits for 21 of the next 27 years. We increased the debt 75%. And we had Great Prosperity.
(If you want to raise the "Europe was Rubble Myth,". look at http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/capital21c/en/pdf/F1.1.pdf which shows that the output of Europe was about the same as the US in the Great Prosperity 1946 - 1973).
11. But where is the federal government to get the money to spend? Well, one of the two huge differences between the finances of the federal government and personal finances is that it can create as much money as it needs out of thin air. Unless you have a printing press in your basement, you cannot do that. The federal government does not need to tax or borrow to pay for government operations. It can never run out of money. There is really no need for it to borrow from the public at all. You may want to think about this crucial fact.
(As we have seen above, the second huge difference between federal finances and personal finances is that the federal government not only can create money, it must create the money we need to conduct commerce. It must spend more than it takes in.)
12. But what about inflation? Won't creating a lot of money cause excessive inflation? There are two answers to that.
13. The government can tax some of the money back. The purpose of taxes is not to raise revenue, but to control the amount of money in the economy.
14. But we may not need to have high taxes. While prices are proportional to the amount of money in the economy (times its velocity), they are inversely proportional to production. A bumper wheat crop lowers wheat prices. Thus if the federal spending facilitates production, the need for taxes is reduced.
I just hope all the Trump voters are so independently wealthy they won't need medicare or social security in their old age. With his trillion dollar deficits and plans to eliminate the social safety nets, they're going to need their millions.
2
I can't help but think that Sanford meant for the word "deficits" to have multiple meanings despite his focus on just one in the article. And it's still a good question without good answers.
1
I’m reminded that Mark Sanford voted for the $1.9 trillion 2017 GOP tax bill.
Where was his fiscal conservatism then?
Also, Trump’s latest budget calls for $750 billion for this year’s defense spending, all of which Trump plans to pay for (in the same budget) with $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the ACA.
4
Deficits never mattered. Who benefit from the deficits does. For Dems, they want deficits to help poor and minorities.
For GOP, deficits must help the rich powerful.
As long as Trumps deficits help the rich, GOP will stay silent.
5
“President Trump’s abandonment of fiscal responsibility will prove disastrous — “
No mention of the way he has shredded the rule of law, kidnapped and caged toddlers,
Republicans are misguided. Every last one. Including you.
5
"President Trump’s abandonment of fiscal responsibility will prove disastrous ... His State of the Union address ... was long on pander and did not address our country’s bleak financial state. Yet amazingly, conservatives whom I have long respected somehow look the other way." Mr. Trump is a disgrace, plain and simple. His GOP sycophants are driven solely by cynical careerism.
2
Question for all of you deficit hawks out there, where did Bernanke get all the money he spent on the various iterations of quantitative easing? If you answer correctly then the follow-up is where is all of the inflation?
1
“ . . . . .Some of my conservative friends, when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True — . . . . .”
Judging by the examples of Republican Presidents back to Reagan, not true.
It’s usually Republicans who are financially irresponsible with examples of Democrats cleaning up their mess more often than not.
I’m no fan of Sanders, frankly, but I’d have a lot more confidence in his budget keeping than Trump by a long shot.
6
The left? Really?
“You know, Paul, Reagan proves that deficits don’t matter. We won the mid-term elections. This is our due.” Former Vice-president Dick Cheney
“Republicans care deeply about deficits, unless they’re caused by tax cuts. Then they don’t give a damn.” Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute
5
So why, Mr. Sanford, are you surprised that Republicans are overlooking Trump's deficits, after they have tolerated, for so long, the extensive list of reprehensible behaviors he has engaged in? How is it that this is different?
6
If the Democrats win in November and the economic chicken come home to roost, they will be blamed for the consequences of trump’s policies. And most Americans will buy that story.
9
The Republican Party has always cynically exploded the federal deficit while in power.
Not many politicians will state this - but we need to increase taxes to meet our spending.
4
You lost me at “If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten.”
History shows a pattern of Democratic leadership fixing the decisions of preceding Republican leadership. The biggest boom economies — and the times the deficit were the smallest — in nearly 40 years were under democratic leadership.
8
@Matt O'Neill
The majority of US depressions and panics were either preceded by or occurred in Republican administrations.
You can look it up...
3
Feigning surprise a Donald Trump’s financial irresponsibility... are you kidding me? This is a man who was born rich and spent his entire adult life as a ‘businessman’ squandering other people’s money and wages, driving one business after another into bankruptcy, always ensuring that in the end his lavish lifestyle would remain intact and everyone else would take a hit.
What did you think he would do when you handed him the keys to the U.S. Treasury - become frugal all of a sudden? The man already has spent over $125 million of taxpayer money to play golf on weekends - and funneled much of that back into bloated fees for food and lodging at his own properties in the bargain. Not to mention pilfering billions earmarked for military schools, hospitals, daycare, medical care and other duly appropriated funding — so he can build his biggest, most pointless boondoggle construction project since the Trump Taj Mahal: a stupid wall from nowhere to nowhere that will accomplish nothing good for anyone, other than a certain ‘reality television star.’
You own this, Mr. Sanford. He’s yours. Shredding the Constitution, bankrupting the country, lionizing convicted felons guilty of perjury, extortion, bribery, fraud, flagrant violation of civil rights laws and other reprehensible, corrupt criminal conduct. This is your 21st century Republican Party. Worse still, this is your ‘evangelical Christianity.’
This is Putin’s Russia now. Thanks for your public service, Mr. Sanford — NOT.
14
Worrying about the so-called "national debt" and the so-called "interest" the government pays on it betrays an enormous category mistake. When you borrow money from a bank, you pay interest. But when the Federal Reserve offers a return on the bonds it sells, it's not interest. It's more properly thought of as a "wealth maintenance payment."
The US Treasury never has to "borrow" US dollars because it has the sovereign power to create as much money as it needs. So why does the Fed sell bonds? Because it has a statutory obligation to maintain the target interest rate set by the Federal Open Market Committee. When bank reserves become excessive, interest rates can be driven toward zero as banks will settle for whatever meager return they can get in the overnight market. The opposite can happen when reserves become scarce--the overnight interest rate can be driven toward infinity. This is one reason the Fed BUYS treasuries--to inject money into the banking system to bring rates back down to the target rate.
The reason there are ever any excess reserves in the banking system is because the US Treasury put it there through deficit spending! It makes no sense to think that the government must "borrow" back the money it has injected into the system for free.
The gov't's wealth maintenance payments are meant to keep the value of our savings--currently at a cumulative $23 trillion--from being eroded by inflation.
Does a deficit increase inflation? If not, go for it.
The only time republicans care even one whit about budge deficits is when they can parlay that concern into crippling the United States economy when a Democrat is in the White House. Full stop.
The rest of the time it is, "Deficits don't matter." Richard B. Cheney.
5
There are times and reasons to run deficits. This is not the time and the cuts were for corrupt unethical reasons ie. rewarding wealthy contributors and they were enacted under false pretenses. This has become standard republican policy. Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility.
2
Once Republicans were willing to make excuses for Trump's intellectual, psychological, character, and moral deficits, it was easy for them to make excuses for his fiscal deficits.
9
Because any one of them would do the same thing, if they were in office.
4
Republicans continue to rob the middle class while extending tax breaks to those who least need a break.The title of the so-called budget should be revised to 'A Budget for America's Dismissal Future'. This deficit spending current occupant of the WH is bankrupting the countries future, after-all he's the king of bankruptcy! The NRA and other sources are funding republican projects and campaign war chest. Bribes work when common sense doesn't.
1
Hogwash! republicans have not been fiscally responsible for at least the last 40 years. The only time budget deficits have gone down in the last 40 years was when a Democrat held the office of President.
Part of the problem has been the billions spent on subsidies to already profitable industries like gas, oil, and coal.
Part of the problem was a military industrial complex, owned by the same industries noted above, that saw defense spending as a smorgasbord upon which to feed.
Most of the problem, though, has been the tax cuts to families and oligarchs who already own most everything, and are hoarding more money than has ever been seen in human history.
That and people like Sanford who refuse to acknowledge the facts. We were actually spending more and creating bigger deficits after WWII when the U.S.A. was rebuilding the world, including our own infrastructure. Those deficits were then seen as investments in the Country and the deficits came down and America was humming right along.
We were even sending men to the moon.
Today we can't seem to afford to fill our pot holes.
7
Starve the beast. That is the long game being played. What is Mr. Sanford's actual solution? He would advocate the second phase of the starve the beast cycle... cut non-military spending. No where is there even a whiff of a hint of the responsible action to take...Raise taxes on the wealthy and on non-productive financial transactions and wealth generation.
Mr. Sanford is pretending to be moral and conservative but he is neither. He is simply starting the drumbeat of "shrink the deficit". Exactly in coordination with the rest of neo-feudalist libertarian Republican starve the beast cynics.
They have already proposed cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in serious and harmful ways. That chatter will increase the reality of a one term Trump presidency becomes more apparent.
One last thing to consider... to whom do the interest payments by the US government go? Hhmmm. I thought so. Republicans decry deficit spending for soundbite and manipulation purposes only. Ultimately that interest goes to the wealthy. That's why Republicans haven't done anything to reduce the deficit for a generation. Similarly, the ACA was structured as a transfer of taxes to the wealthy in the healthcare sphere. Was it surprising in 2016 and 2017 that Republicans didn't repeal the ACA when they controlled all branches of government? No, just embarrassing. Republicans, corrupt Democrats, insurance and Drug CEOs know that ending the ACA is the straw that will break the last barrier to M4A.
3
This is old news. Long ago the Don named himself the king of debt. The difference now is I have to pay his debts.
6
Remember when George W. Bush, speaking of the economy, said "This sucker could go down"? Fortunately, it was still just possible to get bipartisan agreement back then (2008), and the TARP bill was approved by both houses of Congress. In the next meltdown, it is hard to imagine any bipartisan agreement. The only question is, will it happen before or after Nov. 3rd.
2
Not much point in adding to all these comments, but to answer your question, "Why do my fellow Republicans . . ."
Because they're all hypocrites, that's why. And you know that.
5
"Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits?"
#BecauseItsACult
9
There are two articles on deficits in today's opinion section; one by a failed Republican politician, one by an Economics Nobel prize winner. I applaud the NYT for printing both, even though the fantasy piece should have reality appended as a must read.
Maybe both should have a lead in as to qualifications for their opinion?
3
" If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten."
LOL!!! Best joke of the week!
11
His party? That's your party, too, right?
7
Did you vote for the tax cut, Mr. Sanford? You did? Then you've said your piece on this subject. Go away.
12
Money in/money out, Mark. Profligate spending? No, we cut money in dramatically.
1
You say that the deficit would be worse under Sanders, but that is an assertion without factual basis. All of the progressives have said they intend to reorient tax policy towards a balanced approach that does not coddle the billionaires. Trump and his Republican enablers destroyed the budget by reducing revenue while increasing spending, a trick that every Republican administration since Reagan has employed. Progressives have always improved on Republican profligacy and left the economy stronger than when we left it. We will do it again.
8
Well, it's not too hard to figure out that today's conservatives want total judicial control, lack of any oversight/regulations, and in that way they will have control over the social jusice issues--no abortion at all, national policy of homophobia, immigrant hatred and fear.
What are the remaining folks like Sanford actually doing about fixing the Republican party? Handwringing at the most or playing dumb/naive like Susan Collins.
I'm old and just a civilian voter and I saw all this coming, as did most of my friends and relatives. How come all those in power now are so stupid? Maybe not. Maybe all this is their plan. Duh.
Look in vain for "fiscal responsibility." Remember that old Republican core principle. Ha.
3
This is the least of our worries right now. The entire Republic is being shredded and you’re worried about the deficit?
4
That’s right. We are worried about the deficit because it will constrain the Nation’s ability to govern itself through the votes of the public.
“President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit”. Let’s be honest, what Conservatives like the author really mean is that Sanders would have the government spend on the “wrong” things: health care, education and climate action, as opposed to tax cuts for the wealthy, military spending and subsidies for big corporations.
12
@S. Jackson ....“President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit”. ...Wrong. If Sanders is on the head of ticket, Democrats will lose both House and the Senate. Nothing that he advocates would ever be passed.
This is nothing new. Republicans only pretend to care about deficits when Democrats are in power, and who could forget this...
"Reagan proved deficits don't matter."---Dick Cheney
8
Why, the answer is simple. Republicans have been running up deficits for at least two generations. Want to see Republicans get concerned about the deficit, elect a Democratic president and then cue the Republican's sudden concern. Republicans also know, despite their rhetoric, that spending boosts economic growth. Thus, by cutting spending when a Democrat is in the White House, they know they are sabotaging the economy and can claim that only they can run the country. If you think MAGA is why the economy is doing well, you are sorely mistaken. It is the staggering amount of spending that has doubled the deficit in 3 years. Sadly, you won't find one elected Republican who will admit this fact.
11
Sanford would deficit spend like every other drunken sailor in his party since Reagan. Thanks NYT for perpetuating the conservative Republican myth!
That dog don't hunt any more.
5
When I saw the headline I thought it would refer to mental and moral-character deficits. I should have realized that a Republican would care more about money.
4
Republicans have only paid lip service regarding the deficit since at least Reagan's time. Mr. Sanford seems to forget that he was the first president to drastically increase the federal deficit at a time when America was not at war. And of course Clinton was the last president to actually run a surplus. Deficits spiked again under Bush after ill-advised tax cuts and two ill-advised wars, which he made no effort to finance (the first president to cut taxes while waging war). I'm not sure what Republican party Mr. Sanford is talking about.
4
If we are running a $1 trillion-plus deficit when the economy is "hitting on all cylinders," imagine what the deficit will be when the economy cools, which it will do. The 2017 tax cut has provided a nice "sugar high," and that too will end. So then we will all be left holding the bag. Only then will the Republicans return with their pleas for fiscal prudence. And, of course, the need to cut social programs. This has been their MO for 40 years, since "saint" Reagan made his appearance. The Republicans are an absolute disgrace and the party is morally bankrupt - which seems to be their goal for the country they supposedly love so much.
3
Mr. Sanford bemoans the fact that Trump, in his State of the Union address"didn’t even mention our country’s looming debt and deficits in the speech. Not once." What did Sanford expect? A megalomaniac to draw attention to the worst deficit in the history of the country--one that he is responsible for?
While it's true that Republicans have shown their contempt for the American way of life--that is, a country that writes laws that protect the average person from the predations of greedy corporations and individuals--by favoring the wealthy, they want to have the credit for running a fiscally sound government.
The hypocrisy of men like Mark Sanford is quite typical of most conservatives in our Senate. They want to give to the wealthy, but have the average American see that gift as benefitting us all.
3
The U.S. is reliving the pathologies of the Teapot Dome days. Back then, we also had another feckless Republican in charge (lightweight Harding) that lit the match that would set the world on fire for the next 25 years.
It looks more and more like 2001 was 1914 and the trade wars are this century's global war (alliances and depravities and all).
And, the fact that the coronavirus mess came up right around the same timeline as the Spanish flu is bad karma.
I understand that your op-ed needed a theme, but if fiscal deficits are the only aspect of the current presidency that concern you, then you have a very limited grasp of the many, many ways in which this President is endangering our country.
4
I understand so much more about you, Mr. Sanford, after watching the new Netflix series, "The Family."
1
There have been 2 presidents in my over 50 year lifetime who have brought down the deficit during the course of their presidency - Obama and Clinton. I am not sure which is the original conservative sin that allowed the right to live in its fantasy world. It is either science denial or fiscal discipline denial. Either way it is denial all the way down. Mr. Sanford, you and your party are immoral and I hope that your grandchildren learn to hate you and everything which you pretended to believe.
5
It's simple. And whoever the Democratic nominee is needs to shout it from the rooftops: Our president is the world's greatest expert on one thing -- BANKRUPTCY!
If you want to have a bankrupt country, vote for Trump. Otherwise, vote for someone -- anyone -- else.
4
It’s quite clear what the Trumpster has in mind - run up debt on other countries’ nickel and then stiff’em....
How are the arguments of this former Congressman with his flip-flopped priorities, hedged position and shade tossing deflection on Dems even relevant ?
1
“President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit”. Let’s be honest, what Conservatives like the author really mean is that Sanders would have the government spend on the “wrong” things: health care, education and climate action, as opposed to tax cuts for the wealthy, military spending and subsidies for big corporations.
3
This is a good essay, and would normally contribute to the interchange of ideas that make a healthy democracy function.
In a healthy democracy there would be elections in which Democrats win some seats and Republicans others, followed by negotiations in the House and Senate that would work out the details of actual laws.
Voters are usually not conversant with all the details, so they elect candidates along broad philosophical lines. Recently, Democrats have argued for more funding for social programs while Republicans have argued for spending less.
The second stage in democracy, in which the details are worked out between representatives of the two parties, is not functioning because of excessive partisanship.
The emphasis has been on winning at any cost. Impeachment has crowded out other issues. The vote for conviction of Trump in the Senate was almost perfectly along party lines.
Instead of negotiations, our representatives seek photo-ops in which they voice extreme positions in a tone of moral sanctimony. Details of policy have faded to insignificance.
There are no simple answers. Deficits have been increasing. This is partly due to Trump's providing corporations with new tax breaks. Those tax breaks have caused stocks to soar, which makes a future collapse in the stock market more likely. But voters tend to focus on the here and now.
The black and white answers are almost always wrong. Democracy survives by encouraging negotiations toward the middle.
3
Interesting Mr. Sanford commenced with "People have a tragic flaw". No one would know better about tragic flaws than Mr. Sanford. I would elaborate but I'm hiking the Ice Age Trail, which is code for I am in Argentina. He has no credibility.
2
Sanford missed the memo on Republican budget strategy. Run up the deficit when in control of the Senate & White House by giving corporations and the wealthy tax cuts that cannot be paid for....loose one or both in the next election....blame Democrats for excessive spending and demand cuts to entitlements and the safety net, and blame excessive regulations that are designed to protect workers’ rights and the environment. Lather rinse repeat.
2
It is because they know that deficit spending is a good idea and only oppose it when it grants them membership in the austerity club.
Based on his history, Trump's plan must be to just stop paying back the debt. He must figure the suckers who loaned us the money will just get stiffed. That's how he has rolled his entire life. God help us all....
4
Mr. Sanford, YOU voted for Trump's massive tax cuts in 2017. So, in my estimation, you helped drive our deficit up over a trillion dollars. Your hypocrisy is disgusting. Shame on you.
6
This piece needs to be published in the Wall Street Journal. It’s wasted in The NY Times because it’s just preaching to the crowd.
2
Our president is a gambler. Fine for his personal business, but gambling on OUR money is disastrous for the future of our country. Mostly good article by Mark Stanford. Driving through rural South Dakota a few years ago, the only radio stations I could get was FOX and a country station. Whoever it was on FOX railed about the national debt while Obama was in office. I have not listened to FOX since and have thus taken a liking to country music.
4
"...a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True...." Where is the evidence for this? Mr. Sanders has explicitly stated time and again that he would raise taxes on billionaires and corporations.
13
Foreign ownership of american debt at 40%. Guess who owns the other 60%? The Social Security Trust Fund from where seniors get their retirement checks.....for now.
4
If you read the horror stories recounted in "A Very Stable Genuis" of the former top brass and cabinet officials who cowered under Trump's ignorance and rage, you wonder where they are now. Tillerson, Maddis, Kelly and all the others who quit or were fired but supposedly love and selflessly serve the country are virtually doing nothing but giving lectures and voicing timid recriminations of what Trump is doing. My respect for Republicans has been reduced to one, Mitt Romney
10
Mark, I wish you would have taken this message, and others like it, to the GOP presidential primary, like you initially planned to do.
I realize many states aren't even having GOP primaries, and you wouldn't have won the nomination, but without someone on the campaign trail reminding voters of this, it has little or no chance of being a factor in the election or in future spending plans.
It would have been a big service to the nation.
8
Seriously, Mr. Sanford? It’s okay for a President to leverage Congressionally approved foreign aide to an ally in exchange for digging up dirt on a domestic political rival but it’s not okay for Congress to approve of corporate tax cuts that enabled the President to drive up a $1 trillion national debt?
It’s no wonder you’re not still in the Congress; you fit in so naturally there.
5
Your fellow Repubs make excuses for everything trump does. Why should deficits be an exception?
5
Mark, your Republican admonition is right on cue (you have seen the latest President's Budget?). Gosh, if you really want an answer to your question, go ask the Koch Brothers!
P.S. Our country's current Debt/GDP ratio is at 106.9%, the highest and still climbing to levels not seen since the WWII era.
3
The simple answer to the question posed by the title of Mr. Sanfords essay is that they are hypocrites, and to mis quote some song lyric, “ hypocrites be hypocrites”.
The gop senators have drunk deeply from trumps kool aid dispenser, even those once thought to be honorable and independent like Ms. Collins of Maine. Now they hold him above the law, allow him to despoil the constitution, deny his lies and ignore their own oaths of office. Moral backbone is a thing of the past as far as the GOP is concerned.
6
"Even worse under a President Sanders" ??? No, I don't think so, honey - he would raise taxes on the wealthiest to what they were during America's argualbly "Golden Age", the 1950's. And that's what the Bernie bashers are most afraid of.
7
Why, Mr. Sanford? Because yours is the party of the venal and power-hungry, whose desire to retain control of govt -- despite clinging to policies that are unpopular with a majority of Americans -- prompts GOP pols to do the unthinkable
Yours has been the party of dirty-tricksters since at least the Nixon era; Gingrich ramped it up, and the Tea Party extremists took it off the charts
Yours is the party of voter suppression, gerrymandering, hate-mongering, propaganda-distribution, and now of lying outright, to muddy all waters and waste time during the campaign/election season.
You red-staters have poisoned democracy; given that virtually all of you refuse to face reality (the climate crisis, the wealth gap, the healthcare travesty), I hope you all secede. (And try to manage without the blue states subsidizing you.)
https://newrepublic.com/article/140948/bluexit-blue-states-exit-trump-red-america
9
This is a criticism without a remedy. After chastising the president and Congressional Republicans for their "profligate spending", he offers no remedy whatsoever, save a timid, "Don't do that".
There is only one remedy for today's mess in government, vote out those responsible. After all, it's not just fiscal irresponsibility that's on display, the GOP has disgraced itself in the eyes of their countrymen as well as the world at large, kowtowing to an inept, corrupt, menace. However, that's a bridge too far for Mr. Sanford, because that would entail voting for Democrats. It is not a bridge too far for the rest of us. VOTE!
4
Yawn, he is out of office and toothless. I am sure Mark would be another Trump lemming if he was still an elected official.
6
You had my interest, Mr. Sanford, until this: "If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten." The left? Really? Who instigated trickle down economics that cranked up the deficit? Ronald Reagan. Who launched an unpaid for war? Bush/Cheney. Who is the current occupant of the WH running deficits into trillions? Donald Trump. What do they all have in common? An R behind their names.
4144
Agreed! And I also remember that whenever the republicans have gotten us into a deficit/economic tailspin, the Democrats come in and bail us out. Anyone remember 2008-09? Thank the guy in the tan suit who kept us out of another Great Depression.
Mark Sanford was treated badly by Trump (get in line) but that doesn’t mean his argument makes sense and we should listen to him. When we go down the tubes again we can, again, thank our republican pals.
447
@Brown
Reagan ran up as much debt as had been run up in the entire previous history of the US, doubling our debt. Poppy Bush ran up the same amount in half the years. Dubya , given what he himself called “surpluses as far as the eye can see”, ran up 86% as much debt as all his predecessors combined.
Guys like Paul Ryan run up debt on purpose. Today’s GOP calls it Starve the Beast. You can look it up. Run up debt on purpose so they can rationalize cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Ryan gloated about it after the Trump Tax cuts for the rich.
429
@Brown - Right on! Furthermore, who was the last president to actually have a budget surplus? Clinton! What happened to that surplus? Bush Jr came to power and promptly slashed taxes while simultaneously starting a massive war in Iraq under false pretenses which started the Republican’s massive deficit spending.
It’s frankly disgusting that Trump is running an even greater deficit than Obama in 2008 when we had no choice as we were facing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Obama ran a deficit to save the world banking system and our auto industry. Trump runs a deficit so corporations and billionaires can pay near zero taxes.
361
At one time, Henry Ford ran into a problem at his factory. He realized that he was running out of customers to buy his cars. What did he do to generate more customers? He doubled his workers pay, so that they could afford a car.
In my opinion, the Republicans have misunderstood economics. To stimulate the economy, the workers should be getting better pay, so that they could spend it on things that affect the economy widely. When you lower taxes for the rich, they do not necessarily increase their spending on manufactured goods, this is the disparity that the Reagan revolution (Reaganomics) brought to the Republicans. Reganomics has never kept its promise of expanding the economy so much that it pays for the deficits it creates.
4
Thank you very much for publishing this article. This is such a centrally important issue to the stability and future of our country, and none of our elected leaders or the other media are talking about it. Future generations will, and should, blame all of us.
No one on the right is raising the issue for the very same reason that no one has raised this issue since the last time the US was debt free.
Let's all just be adults here; every national politician and every civil servant lives very, very well off of the US debt.
What possible reason would any of them kill their goose that lays their golden eggs?
As long as there is big money to made as a federal employee, ( elected, appointed or salaried ) the debt will continue to balloon.
This is patently obvious.
Expect the debt and deficits to continue to rise until we Americans end the ability to profit off of the US taxpayers.
1
So where in this piece was Sanford’s call to repeal the giant GOP corporate and 0.1% tax cuts?
5
Because conservatives' psychology tends towards the authoritarian. It's that easy.
1
Don't worry Mark. We are going to rein in the spending by cutting Medicaid, food stamps, yada yada and then Social Security. That's been the Republican agenda all along. Tax cuts, raise military spending and eliminate those pesky socialist programs. Right?
2
Was Mr. Sanford sleeping during his time in Congress, when Republicans gathered for weekly meetings at Grover Norquist's to discuss way to shrink the gov't to a size they could "drown it in the bathtub"? His colleagues aren't turning a blind eye to the deficit:b blowing it up to its current level is the reason d'etre of the "conservative" movement. Like the financial crisis, they try to cripple the system when they're in power, then blame Democrats and Liberals for trying to keep the country afloat.
5
Senator, you voted for the tax cuts -so what is your point?
Yes, we are in a bad shape. Yes, the economy is not doing well. Yes, the deficit is killing us - so what is you point?
Tell Senator something we don't know - and I am sure you know a lot of things we don't know.
Again, is this a sign that the rattus are leaving the sinking ship?
3
It seems like the only Republicans that have the guts to criticize Trump have either retired under pressure or have been been banished by other members of congress or by Trump. Others in office - Senator Collins - and even Flake while he was in office - talk a big game but ultimately cave to his demagoguery.
2
Sanford clashed with Mulvaney on the budget assumptions, then proceeded to vote Yea on the 2017 tax bill. I'm shocked, shocked at this fact.
6
In answer to your question....Hypocrisy has long been the hallmark of Republican policy in general.
During the biggest recession in 75 years, the GOP delayed recovery by being obsessed with the deficit. When the economy grew and they controlled all levers of Federal Government, they blew up the deficit to give corporations tax cuts.
Republican don't really care about much other than retaining power and fattening their wallets.
4
The second the world stops using dollars as the main international currency we will have a total financial collapse. Trump ‘s use of sanctions and tariffs in his whimsical pursuits hastens that day. Give him another term to reap the whirlwind by all means.
1
The saddest thing is how cynical this is. Republicans are doing the math that their terms end before the check comes due. What a legacy to behold.
5
Sanford was willing to go along with this when he was in power, and perpetuating his power seeme4d a good thing. Now, as a former public servant and soi-disant eminence grise, he decries the fiscal irresponsibility of his party, which he shard and encouraged for many years.
For the record, Mr. Sanford: The fiscally irresponsible, science-denying, xenophobic racist, market-fundamentalist/laissez-faire anti-government xtian hate machine GOP is the *only* version of the GOP I've ever seen. And I'm a late boomer - I've never seen the GOP act in the service of anything beyond the interest of its donor class, cynically using credulous xtian conservatives as a springboard to power.
If the GOP ever wants to win over true centrist moderates, fiscal irresponsibility should be the least of their worries. The party needs to pivot to evidence-driven positions and stop supporting what are demonstrably fascist and anti-democratic elements in its midst.
3
Why? Republicans who ran on the tea party coattails are greedy and openly mock democracy as seen in their expropriation of the Don't Tread on Me flag after Democrats trounced them in 2008. Our current government gave more in welfare to farmers because of Trump's trade wars than Obama lent to the auto industry who paid back their assistance with interest.
3
“Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds,” by the Scottish journalist Charles MacKay documents the moments when entire societies have set aside their own good judgment under the spell of a charlatan."
That's where I think we're at today. Conservatives like to bat around the concept of keeping a balanced budget but that is not the real issue for Trump. He could care less about a balanced budget.
What he cares about is rewarding his base-- the 1% who can elect him and the evangelicals who support him because he is against a women's right to choose abortion.
So what is Trump spending our money on-- tax cuts for the 1%. This is where the real budget buster is because the 1% do not spend their new found money on anything that benefits the country.
Trump has chosen to spend money on the base instead of items that we need.
No money on infrastructure
Huge trucks are destroying our roads.
No helping students achieve college education.
Student are amassing huge college debt that
they can ever repay.
No money to help people pay for health care.
In fact, health care may be more out of reach
then ever before because of huge deductibles.
Just because Trump scammed the country by escaping impeachment doesn't mean he's not guilty. He's strong armed the Republican Party so that they've denied his criminal, personal behavior. How many countries have elected a cheat, a con and someone who confessed to being proud of assaulting women?
2
“Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits?” The GOP honors the old conundrum, “in for a penny, in for a pound”. The Republicans would never reverse their 2017 Tax law.
1
Sadly Mr Sanford, you are correct. But you are one of a long list of people who have been discarded by your party. John McCain, Mitt Romney, James Mattis, etc. It’s not a bad crowd to be in ethically, but sadly each of you gets picked off one at a time by Trump. Years of service is not valued or respected by Trumpers.
The USA has been hijacked by Trump and McConnell and the like. It’s very sad and disgusting. Plus it leaves us more vulnerable to but jobs on the left as they can be unopposed by a reasonable Republican party as that doesn’t exist anymore. I’m a moderate and fairly well educated and a critical thinker and I don’t believe anything the Republican party says anymore as they just have lost all credibility. Why don’t you join with Democrats or start a new moderate party and stop trying to make the new party of Trump see the light? It’s over and the sooner people of common sense realize and move on the better.
The Debt in America since Trump became the president is 67 thousands dollars per person, almost up by 6000 dollars in past three years. So much for “balancing the budget in 90 days.”
2
We need more Republicans like Mark Sanford calling out the lack of fiscal conservativism like this, but on Fox News. You’re half preaching to the choir here in NY Times and all of the Republicans who only read / watch Fox News will never hear this.
I bet if you polled Fox readers, 25 percent would say Trump is more fiscally conservative and responsible than Obama. Even if you showed them the data.
4
I truly believe Trump will do the same for America what he does what he does best for himself that is make America bankrupt.
2
Because you can’t campaign on “I’m going to reduce your social security/Medicare benefits” or “I’m going to have to raise taxes on everybody to pay for what we already have.” And then, when you get in office, every other politician is just as scared as you are to reduce benefits or raise taxes. So, here we are.
But the economy looks so good. Hey, look at that stock market!
Can I interest you in buying a pig in a poke?
How about an incredibly shrinking bathtub?
As Krugman has intimated, the debt obsession has been exercised by the GOP as a beautiful modus operandi. When Dems are in power they beat them over the head with it--forcing them to fix it--AT the expense of the commons. Americans generally and so-called democratic moderates in particular are always too happy to oblige--so help the GOP to regain the seats of power to make our economy strong again by addressing this terrible and seemingly intractable problem of Washington.
They call a skull and bones meeting for all concerned and put on their anti-robin hood outfits back on and begin again to steal from the poor and give to the rich. Meanwhile they raid the treasury to spend on every boondoggle and irrational, say military, venture while eliminating public trusts and measures to protect the people from the rank appetites of private menaces (fiduciary and environmental), shrinking the bathtub where the commoners wash. When the budget is blown again (think of Reagan, W, and Trump, the Dems send in someone who has bought the pig in the poke to fix the terrible situation that poor people and do-gooders caused. The bathwater is getting pretty filthy and the disease is threatening the planet. No doubt the media (owned by the GOP and advocates of this machine) will once again promote sensible policies of austerity to shrink the tub and appease the pig in a poke they bought with your money.
Trump has a history of filing bankruptcy for businesses he runs. Should anyone be surprised by his financial recklessness?
3
Maybe you need to spend more time on the Appalachian Trail reflecting on what the GOP and trump have done instead of insinuating that it's the Democrats who have no fiscal discipline.
4
"... entire societies have set aside their own good judgment under the spell of a charlatan."
"Entire societies?"
Last I checked it was about 43% of Americans, a subset that Abraham Lincoln once described as "some of the people all of the time."
From the Appalachian Trail to the campaign trail (or South America), Mr. Sanford is now the conscience of conservative America. The title including “make excuses” is rich.
1
Very few Republicans are willing to endure his infantile tweet-storm if they disagree with anything he says or does. He has completely changed what used to be a pretty good conservative party to a party of zombies, shuffle-plodding alone a path, mindlessly uttering his name. Only one voted against the party in the recent "trial" and we will see what happens to Utah's Senate focus.
My guess is you would follow along, too, Mr. Sanford. Your career, like theirs, would hang in the balance. If Trump likes you, you get rewards and reduced prison recommendations, even pardons. If he doesn't, you get 25 or so angry, childish tweets aimed at his - and your - red meat base.
This fiscal irresponsibility on the part of the Republicans under Trump has led to the widespread and highly vocal demonstrations of the Tea Party. Look & listen: crickets.
1
Hmmm. I wonder if there is a correlation between cutting taxes...and an increased budget deficit...?
Will have to do more thinking on this. A very confusing topic indeed!
2
I thought Sanford was going to answer the question. The headline should have left out the word "Do."
1
rember, Trump was the doofus that said he would eliminate, not the deficit, but the entire debt within 4 years!
5
how many op Ed's does Paul krugman have to write before people realize the fear of the deficit is not based on sound economic theory. rather, it is based on a need to rationalize a not so subtly racist policy agenda that argues against giving "entitlements" to certain groups.
but hey, in this day, maybe this is the best we can get. so thanks? but then again, maybe not? I guess you deserve some credit for trying.
Take on the Republican president, but spare me the swipe at Democrats as your straw man. President Obama was paying down the debt. Facts is facts.
8
Sigh...because your fellow Republicans are not public servants but servants of corporatism and a collection of self-interested hypocrites who bend to power and overlook the needs of their constituents. (The Democrats are no different, mind you. They are actually one in the same; the differences between the two are so minor as to be insulting to anyone with common sense). They make excuses because they never have cared about the "deficit" otherwise blank check war project would have been a last resort in our imperial military policy and not the go to problem solver for everything. Trump,to his credit,has shown us all just how much a farce all we have come to believe in are a pack of manufactured consents, lies, and illusions.
Mr. Sanford: I thought this was just part of the great Republican plan to gut starve the beast, gut Social Security and Medicare, and recreate the certain hardships of the Great Depression, just out of spite for the non-investor class. Please tell me I’m wrong!
1
My dad used to tell a joke about a man who kept playing a gambling wheel and lost every spin. When he's told the wheel is crooked, he says, "I know the wheel is crooked. But it's the only wheel in town."
And that is the Republican relationship with Trump. They know he's crooked, but for a Republican politician, he's the only wheel in town, and so they play. It's how Lindsey Graham and the rest of them stay, what's the word? Relevant!
1
The simple fact is that when you're working for a wage that won't even cover your basic needs, you don't care about the federal deficit. When you're paying hundreds of dollars a month for health insurance with a deductible that prohibits you from ever using it, you don't care about a federal deficit. When you have no hope for the future of your career or neighborhood or town, what does a federal deficit matter to you? What the populist "conservatives" have realized is that they can spin these insecurities to their own ends (mainly by offering massive tax breaks to those who need them the least). All of the Democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders included, realize that this is a massive problem, and all of them recognize that asking everyone to pay their fair share is part of the solution. Conservatives, yourself included, just propose cutting more programs to rein in spending, which punishes the people least at fault the most. Meanwhile, the Republican party has been overrun by xenophobia and outright racism, resulting in unbelievable acts of cruelty and stupidity at border crossings and towns and cities across the country, but God forbid a conservative like yourself would ever have the courage to call out that behavior. Let's stick to the math, right?
3
Hey Mark, if you want conservatives to care about deficits again, elect a Democrat.
5
Start talking about seriously paring down the size and scope of the Federal Government and then we can talk about temporarily raising taxes to pay down the debt. Until then I'd rather have tax cuts and debt than an ever increasing Federal Government. (Hey all y'all Californian's and New Yorker's who are constantly complaining about subsiding Red States. Think about all the money you'd have to fund your desired welfare state at home if DC wasn't taking all your cash to waste on people you hate? All you have to do is send Libertarians to DC and Democrats to Sacramento/Albany.)
Don't worry Mr Sandford, Republicans will return to their penurious ways once a Democrat is elected.
3
Why do they keep silent? Because the "Tax Cut and Jobs Act" of 2017 is really the "Goose the Economy by Beggaring our Children so we can Stay in Power and Get What WE Want Republican Act." Shameful.
1
Those who might be considered “citizens” rather than “subjects” are now a minority of voters. The history of the USA and the great experiment of the founders is no longer taught in schools or taught so feebly that a majority of those who might reliably exercise their franchise have no idea of the value of doing so. Neither citizens or subjects, they are merely “consumers” having been well indoctrinated into choosing whatever appears the shiny trophy of the latest fad or fashion to plump their level of endorphins. Just like the inevitability of climate change, the next great economic depression has been baked into the system. A previous commenter likened the Republican Oligarchy to dragons accumulating and sitting on their great piles of gold. They do so in the fantasy that with a large enough pile, they will be above the coming tsunami. Apparently they are ignorant of world history. The cult mob psychology that is driving the Trump train has the same limbic brain origins as those who made extensive use of the guillotine, and they, in their revolutionary delusions, believed, at least at the outset, they were the true “citizens”, doing their duty to advance society. Having piles of gold identified those who were targets rather than creating a haven. Gold pilers, beware.
1
Mr Sanford is correct. The GOP is now the party of massive deficits. When Obama was president, an entire group of fake patriots, started a political organization called the “tea party “ , whose sole purpose was to halt the deficits that would certainly destroy the country. Where are these hypocrites now? Probably collecting social security and Medicare.
6
Oh please, the deficit isn't the most disastrous thing, it's Trump's and the GOP's push to destroy the social safety net. To destroy ACA, SS, Medicare, and Medicaid.
All to satisfy the deficit hawks like yourself who claim the deficit is the problem.
No, trickledown economics and nasty GOP destruction of our safety net is the real problem.
3
The republican party decreased spending on internations embassy security, then crucified Senator clinton for Benghazi.
They stopped banking regulations, which caused the 2007 great depression.
Today the republicans are co conspirators with Russian violation of our 2016.2018, 2020 Democracy's elections.
All to remain in power.
4
You really should read the new Paul Krugman's book "Arguing with Zombies".
Why don't your fellow republicans ask Mr. Trump about his forever audit? Has anyone had a 4-year+ audit? Why don't you ask?
Why don't news reporters and members of your party ask him, "Mr. President, are you still being audited? Do you have proof that you are in a continuing audit? Will you release your tax returns now? Should the American public see proof of your multi-year audit?"
Maybe the state-owned news station, Fox, should ask this question. Or you could go on Fox and suggest trump be transparent about this issue. He says, they say, he's the most transparent president. Let's have it!
6
Trump’s supporters are inebriated by his lies and stumble over the truth. That said, any news that threatens their view of Trump or their current position in Trumps’s party is justified or normalized, sadly.
1
"I alone can fix it."
Your president. Nice work, GOP.
2
Republicans absolutely do care about deficits ......
When a Democrat is president.
3
Umm... As a Republican, I find it remarkable that you would be upset by hypocrisy. I thought that was your thing!
Don't you know, it is always the same with the modern GOP: IOKIYAR. No matter what, if it is a Republican doing it, even if it is absolutely anti-conservative, immoral, pro-Russian, or whatever, it is OK. Ant this is even more so for Republican economics, as deficits and debts only matter when Democrats are in charge.
Look at the markets/squirrel. Ignore the debt. See, now don't you feel better?
1
and yet you voted to fund the WALL.
1
Simple. I could not care less about his faults, we all have them. I like his stance on the border and illegals. I like his almost total destruction of Liberals and exposing the amount of fake news we see. Trade treaty improvements and of course the economy.
So...are you going to work towards voting Trump out of the White House?
1
So why is this guy still a Republican?
Trump is running the GOP's ponzi scheme.
2
This is a rhetorical question, right?
Apocalyptic Anonymous in charge.
Same reason they are ok with him doing everything ELSE he does. Because they are cowardly, self-interested toadies. Any other questions I can help you with, Mark?
1
Thank you!
The real question is - why would the author still self-identify as a republican?
The party is so corrupt and spineless at this point, he's basically aligning himself with evil.
“President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit”. Let’s be honest, what Conservatives like the author really mean is that Sanders would have the government spend on the “wrong” things: health care, education and climate action, as opposed to tax cuts for the wealthy, military spending and subsidies for big corporations.
7
"Our children, and their children, will have fewer and fewer life choices and chances, thanks to our profligate spending."
Our govt. spending is not profligate- go look at the budget and review our spending as a percentage of GDP then compare that to the spending for other OECD countries. We're not outliers. The issue here is that for the past 40 years Republicans like Mr. Sanford have cut taxes for their donors while increasing spending on defense and entitlements that serve their base voters without any thought to how they can cover the subsequent deficits.
1
With all due respect, Mr. Sanford, you should stop asking the question of why Republicans are allowing deficits to get out of control. The answer is simple. They're lazy.
It is much easier to just ignore the problem than do something about it. In nearly ten years since the Obamacare legislation has passed, where is the Republican alternative? Do the Republicans have any solutions for curbing gun violence, especially in our schools? No. Have we seen any comprehensive immigration reform bills from the GOP? Nope. How about at least some bills to help with the high costs of prescription drugs? No again. Budget deficits matter only when Democrats are in control.
To the best of my knowledge, the GOP exceeds at finding non-existent boogeymen, investigating, raising campaign donations and confirming judges (regardless of their qualifications). Your party has either a lack of energy, lack of brainpower or both.
7
Republicans opposed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, emergency stimulus spending of $831 billion over 10 years that stopped the Great Recession and helped launch an 11 year economic expansion. Trump's annual deficit is bigger than that stimulus bill, but the annual GDP growth is slower than Obama's because the tax cuts mainly went to Republican donors who aren't spending the money.
The next president should not take Republican concerns seriously when they complain about the deficit. Clearly, the Democrats are the only party that actually cares about budget discipline.
7
"Some of my conservative friends, when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True — but that makes it all the more important for those of us on the right to vigorously challenge the president’s reckless financial path. If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten."
You had me until this gem of a paragraph:
1) You have NO idea what a President Sanders would do.
2) And what exactly is the evidence the that "the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline?" Bill Clinton balanced the budget which W exploded while Cheney declared "deficits don't matter" and Obama reduced the deficit during his 8 years in office.
I'm never sure with politicians whether they lie or are generally not too bright. I guess it's both.
26
JJM I am convinced that conservatives are hypocrites. The talk a good line, but do not do it. When they are not in power, everything the other side does is bad. When they are in power, the same things are OK to do.
2
Why do Republicans constantly talk about deficits and the national debt when they are the cause of it? To wit: Ronald Reagan cut taxes and never once in eight years proposed a balanced budget. George W. Bush funded two foreign wars on the national credit card, cut taxes and added the Medicare prescription benefit. Donald Trump gave away a trillion dollars a year to corporations and the wealthy with his tax cuts. Recall that Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress in 2017 and 2018 and they EXPANDED the deficits!
The only time the GOP was "concerned" about deficits and debt were when Democrats were in the White House. Obama pursued classic Keynesian economics during the Great Recession - the government is there to spend money to keep the recession from turning into the Great Depression ( a lesson learned by none other than Ben Bernanke, Fed Chair in 2008).
Mr. Sandford, your party has paid nothing but lip service to the debt for 40 years. Why should anyone listen to them know when they are acting in a manner consistent with the last four decades?
19
Let's be clear about one thing. The Trump tax cut reduced taxes for the wealthy and corporations by about $5T - $6T. That "only" $2T and counting (not the $1T or $1.5T often quoted) was put on the national credit card is due to tax increases on the earning class (i.e., people who make money by working, not on their capital gains and dividends), such as caps on the amount of mortgage interest and state and local taxes that can be deducted. These increases were designed to punish blue states, whose economies are stronger and, therefore, real estate -- and real estate taxes -- are more expensive. They also invest more in education, innovation and infrastructure -- big drivers of their economic success -- so their state tax rates are higher, and their incomes are higher than in red states, so even an average family with two earners reaches the SALT limit before getting to any local taxes. And, these are also the states that have a net outflow of federal taxes which subsidize red states' decisions not to tax or invest in their own citizens. Let's please stop calling this only a $1T tax cut for the wealthy and corporations and let's start calling it what it is -- a $5T - $6T tax cut for the wealthy and corporations and a $4T+ tax increase for the rest of us.
12
Yes, Trump has been the Grand Marshal of this fiscal parade but it's Mitch McConnell and his GOP soldiers (as well as Democrats) who have been the real muscle behind what Sanford deplores. What is the end game? I suspect that Trump and McConnell will call for cut in "entitlement" programs, starting with those that benefit the poor and, when that proves insufficient, they will move on to the sacred Third Rail: Social Security and Medicare. Or maybe they will take the same path as did government corporate management and unions which negotiated unrealistic labor contracts, knowing that when reality eventually would arrive, those who structured such contracts would be enjoying retirement or be dead.
1
In a nut shell, here’s what’s going to happen: Chinas economy will be staggered by the coronavirus outbreak and at some point they will want the repatriation of some or all of the $1.3 trillion of treasury securities that they own; The Federal Reserve and Treasury will respond by printing money; The domestic inflation curve will look like a space launch; Goods and services in the U.S. will increase in price by significant amounts thus reducing our ability to trade within the world community and reduce the debt, and; Other nations seeing what is happening will demand that their money be repatriated as well.
Trump will then refuse to leave office no matter what the electorate demands because he and only he knows how to get us out of this mess – he got us in, who better to take us out? What happens next is that the U.S. becomes the Venezuela of the north.
I’m glad that at my age I’ll only see a little of this. I’m mad because I have to see any of it.
5
At least we, the people, would get something back under a Sanders deficit.
9
Ironic that in the same daily issue we have this Op Ed piece, and the story about rural America where all the roads are failing and the farmers complain they can't drive their big tractors to the fields.
We saw under Sam Brownbeck as governor of Kansas and their legislature starving the state because all taxes are expenses the people don't want to pay.
It is the conservative delusion that didn't start with Reagan but got traction and took off. Because they pay taxes, the government is taking what is theirs. Government wastes our hard-earned tax money (except in my state or district, where my senator and representative is working hard to solve our problems). And only democrats want more taxes and spend the money on bad things.
Now, those same folks are getting something else in return for looking the other way. The economy continues to go well since the massive investment in 2009-2010 to keep it from collapsing, but more importantly, Trump and the republicans are posting conservative judges, pretending to be protecting us from the evil invaders from the south border, and promoting the conservative christian agenda (and looking the other way as more opposition to gay rights, women's rights and taxpayer funding for christian schools with no employment or discrimination restrictions to employees and students.
So we will somehow find out with unsustainable debt service that it was the democrats who caused this.
6
I agree with everything Mr. Sanford has said, except his belief that it is fealty to Trump that has the Republican party running up trillion $ deficits in a healthy economy. It's their fealty to the wealthy and to corporations. For this reason, Republicans were able to push through Trump's only major legislative victory. If they were loyal to Trump, there would have been many more. The Republican political class are only loyal to Trump at election time, when Trump can dictate to his base how they will vote.
3
This should not be surprising, as history has made clear that most republicans never actually cared about the budget, they just use it as an excuse to achieve their real goals of cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations, and cutting social services. Trump has done this, so the republicans are happy. Under Obama, they "cared about deficits" because it sounds better than taking money from the poor to give to the rich. No big mystery or surprise here, it has happened over and over, and is fully consistent with what the republican party has always done.
10
Once again, when the Republicans are in-charge of the budget, spending goes way above-and-beyond, and in this case, they're borrowing from our children for a millionaire/billionaire give-away today. When will the American public ever wake-up and see that Democrats are not only fiscally more responsible, but also far more morally justified in how funds are allocated? Millions of working Americans are hurting to pay bloated health care and living costs, while the 1%'rs enjoying looking at bigger numbers on their stock-portfolio screens. It's frankly disgusting to hear a billionaire tell me my economy is great when I have nothing in my bank account.
9
The answer is pretty easy. Trump is spending the money on things the Republicans like, so all is well with the GOP. They have never been against government spending, they have only been against government spending on things they don't like.
15
So well, in fact, that you insist on calling them a Grand Old Party.
Not what you meant?
Then call them by their name, not their branding statement. Sheesh.
President Sanders will not have a congress that lays down and becomes a doormat even if controlled by Democrats.
Democrats are not monolithic in their thinking and have disparate and sometimes conflicting interest groups that force compromise within the party and in governing.
See how Obamacare evolved before becoming law as clear example.
4
If I recall Sanford voted for the House version of the infamous unfunded tax cut for the wealthy. He did so despite admitting that the bill was bad. This is an excellent example of someone who lies to cover his bad deeds.
18
I suspect you are the voice in the wilderness, Mr. Sanford. Have you had any takers on your very (and surprisingly) rational commentary among your "respected" conservative friends? I'm guessing not.
Also, is it a requirement of conservative writers who are being critical of their fellow conservatives to take a least one gratuitous swipe at Democrats? Republicans and conservatives - politicians and pundits - do it every time. Your essay would have been just as cohesive and cogent without the swipe at Bernie Sanders.
4
Why is that federal or gubernatorial Republican legislators or office holders are critical of the present Presidential administration only when they are out of office or are no longer in competition for Mr Trump's re-nomination by the party for President?
Oh, I see why.
3
This is a crisis being made by intent. When the crisis comes there will be calls to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other programs that help people such as education. This is a Republican ploy.
15
It is quite amazing that Republicans still tell the American public that's progressives are the proverbial boogie man. The fact of the truth is, Democrats raise taxes to pay for programs that's the difference between us and you. To say that Sanders or any Democrat would be worse than Trump is a lie. You are part of the problem Mr. Sanders. The issue is and has been that the Republicans serve the very wealthy not the American public. The very fact that Republicans continually do tax cuts is testimony to this fact. Don't forget Bush, during the Iran and Afghanistan war, passed a tax cut which was unheard of for a country to do during wartime.
8
It would be nice if Americans could actually discuss an issue, any issue, without retreating into their party fortress. The issue is growing the national debt in times of a robust economy. Are you for it or against it?
Reagan has been out of office for 30 years. Please talk about now.
3
Pelosi handed Trump his re-election in July 2019 by approving a $1 trillion deficit stimulus package in a booming economy election year. The Republicans in the House actually voted against it while in the Senate it was a mix.
People need to stop looking at Pelosi's style and look at the substance instead: since that moment of insanity she's also approved USMCA without a single reference to climate change. Mexico would have approved that in a heartbeat. Her buddy Schumer was appalled by this and voted no.
Even Brazil accepted climate change commitments in the Mercosur trade agreement with the EU and they are the worst.
It's time for Pelosi to step down over these errors in judgment, there are plenty of competent people to take over, Adam Schiff comes to mind.
1
"a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit"; based on what?! The taxes on the ultra wealthy who are not paying their fair share at this point would more than compensate for Medicare for all, etc. I would argue. Betsy Devos has what $400,000,000 just the value of her yachts?! That's higher than the GDP of many countries (Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, etc.). And that's just a very small example.
3
Mark Sanford is correct in his assessment of the Republican capitulation of reason in favor of Trump-spew, yet he himself suffers from the same toxic mix of nonsense Republican talking points thrown into a stew of half-baked ideas. Sanford refuted Mulvaney’s lies, good for him, yet he continues to thoroughly misconstrue the truth about deficits. He claims Sanders would be bad for deficits when facts show that Dem presidents are the ones who spend responsibly and Republican presidents spend toward oblivion. (Bush turned Clinton’s $200B surplus into a $1.4T deficit, Obama cut that in half, Trump is heading into trillions again)
What Republicans (and our country) really need is legislators who are committed to facts and truth about government, the economy and the environment especially. A nod toward reasonableness, Mr. Sanford, won’t get it done.
4
Why do you remain a Republican? The Republicans have blown the deficit out of the sky by reducing taxes on corporations and the wealthy. If you were a Democrat, you could join the moderate wing and help see to it that appropriate social spending was carried out in a responsible fashion. Republicans have become Trump’s enablers and, by taking an oath to judge him fairly and acquitting him have demonstrated that they have lost all moral fiber.
6
That's easy: It's the Infidelity Party.
Trump's approach to the economy is like an 8 year old assigned to tend to a campfire that was already roaring when he showed up. He doesn't recall nor understand the work that went into getting the fire started, and he's throwing all the kindling and matches in just to watch it flare up. (and he thinks he's a genius for doing so)
Well, guess what... at some point the economy is going to sputter and you'll wish you had the matches and kindling. But when you've thrown away the tools of tax cuts, low interest rates, and ran up debt during bad times, you'll have no options to stimulate the economy when you need it.
8
@Steve Excellent analogy with the kid and the camp fire.
What Trump has taught me is that even if a President Sanders doesn’t get the Congress he wants he can just feed his healthcare plan by raiding the military funds as a “national emergency”.
Republicans refusing to reign Trump in as an apparent last ditch effort to “protect ways of the past”, is simply setting precedents that future Administrations will use to THEIR ends.
8
Since Reagan, the Republican party has been selling out the country to the Military Industrial complex, Moneyed interests, Powerful religious sects, the gun lobby, hugely profitable propaganda networks (Fox News) peddling conspiracies as fact and never even trying to correct them. - anything to grab and maintain power.
Any premise of fiscal responsibility or any other old espoused Republican values are laughable. Their "End Justifies the Means" approach to government has been slowly bringing down the party (and Country). Now it is at a level where an individual like Trump could usurp the Republican Presidential nomination and slide in into the Presidency. The Senate Republican (minus Romney) showed us exactly who they are during the Impeachment Trial when they blocked witnessed -despite 75 % polled wanted witnesses - and acquitted Trump. They gave away the power endowed to them in the constitution.
We are now having neocons aghast as the antics of Trump and the party. the neocons and Republican party apparatchiks are all part and parcel of this. Had they actually stepped up twenty years ago and done something to stop the repetitive drumbeat of Right Wing propaganda from misinforming a significant number of Americans, I might take their tsk tsking seriously. This is what happens when you govern by End Justifies Means. The End veers off a cliff and those masterminds that had it all figured out are looking for others to blame.
7
I haven’t been able to figure out what the “Ends” are that Republicans are actually working towards.
Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits? Simple, because the GOP only cares about deficits when a democrat is in charge.
8
This was a great read. Completely true. I would argue that the same exact thing happened under Obama when it came to continuing and furthering war in the middle east. Charlatanry sometimes seems even well intentioned. Trump's version is overtly opportunistic. But it's good to see those two contrasting examples with similar, albeit differently scaled outcomes.
Trump has not invested in infrastructure, healthcare or education but major tax cuts to big business with a massive cut in corporation tax.
Paul Krugman has analysed these tax cuts to big business and this results not in investment in US industry and jobs for US workers, but an export of these tax cuts to the wealthy predominantly in other countries who are company shareholders ,by way of increased share dividends. Companies have also engaged in buying back their own shares, with no increase in investment and jobs.
Therefore the corporate tax cuts are equivalent to a huge foreign international aid programme not to assist humanity, but the already super wealthy. How can this be called an economic policy.
8
“Some of my conservative friends, when I criticize the president, respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True —“
True...but....putting money and resources into the hands of the poor and middle class means that money will instantly circulate through and stimulate our economy. Trump is putting the same money into the hands of the wealthy where it immediately either goes into the stock market or offshore depending on just how wealthy one is. That money is literally taken OUT of our everyday economy.
9
Trump is not putting money into the hands of the wealthy. He is simply allowing them to keep more of that which is already theirs. A million dollars in tax cuts is not the same as a million dollars in welfare spending.
1
@From Where I Sit
And wonder just how many of them would have that money if it were not for our local, county, state, and federal government making sure the infrastructure was in place paid by taxes by everyone.
As for that million in welfare the people that get it spend it helping our consumer driven economy while those getting that million because of tax cuts do not spend it therefore not helping the economy.
3
Some of it is “theirs” now (partially earned on the backs of the lower income taxpayers whose money paid to build the infrastructure that those fortunes are based upon), but much of those tax cuts are also forward looking. That’s not “ their” money yet. Welfare for the wealthy does not stimulate the American economy. That’s voodoo economics.
This “their money” rationale is class warfare.
3
My entire adult life Republicans have always been big spenders. Their talk of fiscal conservatism is all talk. Big deficits under Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and now Trump. How much evidence do you need to see that the Republicans are flim flam men when it comes to fiscal responsibility?
19
This was exactly what I thought while reading Mr. Sanford's OP-ed. He may dislike Trump, but Republicans have always been the Party of The Rich disguised as populist politicians.
7
In one important aspect, Mr. Sanford has it backwards.
He questions "allowing the national debt to grow by a trillion dollars a year, despite the booming economy."
What's actually happening is that the economy is booming BECAUSE Trump is prodding the national debt to grow by a trillion dollars a year.
It's the same tactic that made him rich before 2016--clever use of bankruptcy laws and a ruthless willingness to stiff his contractors and creditors.
17
Trump’s MO is use someone else’s money. He did it in business and he’s doing it now. There is no end to this administrations incompetence and neglect of our country. No thought of nurturing a healthy and productive population via education, health care and infrastructure. Congressional Republicans should all be defeated! It’s time we as a country get our priorities straight and look and plan for the future vs all for the next election cycle. What has this administration really done for most of the neediest people that voted for Trump and republicans in congress and the senate?
3
Donald Trump cranked up US stock markets by providing comfort that interest rates would not rise (by attacking the Fed) and with stimulus in the form of tax cuts and deficits. Did this really boost the economy? Perhaps some, because of the wealth effect, but it does not seem to have stimulated capital investment, so in the end, not much I would say. Both of these tactics are just robbing Peter to pay Paul, so there will be a cost down the road, or maybe a financial crisis down the road, and it will more than wipe out the value created in the markets, so nothing of enduring value has been created, but of course the debt is still there.
9
Quite true, Mr. Sanford, but the fiscal irresponsibility in the current GOP is only a more extreme sort than what's been found in the GOP for decades. With his tax cuts, Ronald Reagan turned the USA from the largest creditor nation on earth to the largest debtor nation. Bill Clinton paid down some of that, then George W. Bush cut taxes again and exploded the deficit once more. Obama inherited a near-depression and didn't cut spending, but this arguably saved our economy, getting it back on track for... Donald Trump taking credit for it and exploding the deficits once again. See a pattern here?
17
I take issue with the notion that "the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline." Where is the evidence? The last two Democratic presidents were much more fiscally responsible than their Republican counterparts. Sure, Democrats might like to spend more money on social programs than Republicans, but at least they're paid for--unlike the huge tax cut Trump gave to the wealthiest Americans.
As your column implies, and all recent evidence demonstrates, the right has "abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline," not the left! Please get your facts straight, Mr. Sanford, before discussing the lies of others.
14
I am nearly 60 years old and the only President in my lifetime to balance the budget was...Bill Clinton! So I don't agree with your assessment of the Left abandoning "all sense of fiscal discipline." The answer to our problems might just be a moderate Democrat in the White House!
18
Simply put- If you hitch too many freight cars behind a locomotive you will stop the train. If you put enough debt on any railroad you will bankrupt the entire company. Now just apply that logic and change the word company to our country.
4
First, we're spending nearly as much as the entire rest of the world, TOTAL, on defense spending. That is unsustainable - and hardly marks a 'peacetime' economy. It's also badly spent money with little oversight.
Second, Sanders wouldn't do so poorly because he would actually collect taxes. So-called American conservative have never been responsible that way, and Trump is less of an outlier than he is simply the next data point. Your conservatives, American conservatives, never believed in balancing the budget at their own expense - taxing the rich - only at other peoples' - cutting benefits.
Don't pretend otherwise, the numbers from Reagan onward simply don't back you up.
1329
@mjw Yeah... I love it when people complain about the tax and spend democrats. What about the spend and spend republicans?
29
@mjw
With a lot of the defense budget sent toTrump’s buddies to build this wasteful wall.
21
We are spending as much as the rest of the world on defense so Trump can take some of that defense money and spend it on his useless wall.
20
Have no fear, Mr. Stanford, Republicans will get back on the austerity path once a Democrat takes over at the helm of this country. Again, it will be up to the Democrats to fix the mess they will be left when a Republican President leaves office.
Clinton repaired the economy and had a budget surplus when the left the White House. George W. in his infinite wisdom, started two wars on the credit card, enacted three tax cuts, and in his final act, gave us the Great Recession of 2008, and three trillion in added deficits. And who cleaned up his mess, Obama, who put us on the path of recovery.
But Bush's antics will look like child's play in comparison to Trump
whose uninformed and unfettered approach to governing will grow the deficit by a trillion dollars per year. And who will stop him?
15
I have been surprised the doubled deficit has not been of more mention on the campaign trail.
9
Here's where I see the answer to this idea that idiots like Trump can lead the Republican lemmings into handing off trillions in debt to future generations.
Someone with the persuasive genius of Greta Thunberg will organize our youth into a vocal entity that can speak as one to the world that when they become a majority in our representative government, they will reject the claims to all holders of our debt (which will give them fair warning), and then when actually in power, do it. After watching Greta's work bear fruit, I wouldn't doubt they can, and will, do it.
4
Another line famous line from the book goes: "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."
Coincidentally, the author was my great great grandfather. I've had his words knocking around my head since this charlatan came down that escalator. My guess is that the GOP, too, will only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
12
How in the world did conservatives expect anything different? Every single one of Trump's business ventures has been funded by unsound loans fueling short term growth, leading to bankruptcy with other people holding the bag. Now, the man in running the biggest loan scam of all time, with half of the American public cheering as he burns through their future, just another bad debt Trump can walk away from, consequence free. The biggest travesty of the budget is not the conservative canard of wealth redistribution from the rich to the poor, but the enormous transfer of wealth from the young to the old, all in the form of federal debt.
16
Not to worry Mark the Republicans are just waiting to remind the Democrats about the deficit when they take control again. For the most part Republicans only care when Democrats are in control. Let's review Bush #1 ran it up, Clinton moved it down, Bush#2 crashed the country ran it up, Obama moved it down you see the pattern. I can not help think of Naomi Cline's The Shock Doctrine You owe us now what do you have that we want say your public land maybe in trade Hmm. You are right who stands to gain say maybe Trumps friend Russa! Just sayin.
5
Sanders assumes that Trump can read and write. As we all know from the 12-mistake sentence in his August 15, 2016 paper on national security, he cannot. There is no way that he can reason through any of this. The big question for the GOP is why they knowingly allowed someone this intellectually incontinent to run for their nomination.
10
Because Republicans don't like education, which means they can't do simple arithmetic? Because Republicans don't like Americans and want us all to be compliant with their every whim? Your fellow Republicans make excuses for Trump's deficits because they're enriching themselves with our tax dollars? All of this and more.
3
"respond that a President Sanders would be even worse for the deficit. True.."
Not so. Republicans have been howling those kind of lies for decades. They talk about the "tax and spend" Dems, but they are the "borrow and spend" GOP. Google it, the deficits have always risen under GOP presidents. Reagan first ran by railing against the national debt, then went on to triple it in 8 years.
12
Trump only cares about his short time in the spotlight. After that we're on our own. Trump's followers think he can do no wrong. It's all simple to understand. Whomever has the misfortune to be in power when things begin unraveling will be to blame. Trump understands that and his followers and enablers apparently don't care. Party on GOP !
4
Why?
Because the GOP members of Congress, like Trump, have sold out to the far (including the Religious and bigoted) Right, and/or are compromised by the Russians who have probably assisted in their elections as well.
As with other banana republics, the US is at serious risk of collapsing under the weight of its own corruption.
6
economy is as Strong as ever....and the Tax Cuts were a Great Move....it did Not just go to the Wealthy it went into the Market....and with that everyone's 401 k became Healthy ...and for many States like California which has been under Full Democrat Party Control for Decades and is a Trillion Dollars in Debt. that is the difference between being able to fund their outrageous Pension Funds or going Belly Up!
1
"If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten."
This is the most maddening nonsense, and flat out lie, being peddled by a GOP which simply can't face the truth.
The Dems have abandoned nothing, and in fact always end up bailing out the GOP and their destructive greed policies.
The Dems are way better at using money wisely and investing in the country and a greater percentage of its people.
The GOP is the single greatest driver of debt and deficits, and it is because of their insistence on this trickle down nonsense, and an unfair tax code.
Trickle down/supply side has been an abject failure each of the three times it has been tried – Reagan, Bush the Elder, and Bush the son.
In baseball the GOP would be out, game over. But they are masterful propagandists.
They keep feeding the same nonsense to a crowd only too willing to be deceived, and vote against their own interests because of social wedge issues.
7
Dem presidents keep getting us out of the debt that Republican presidents create. Check our recent history.
9
@kschwrtz
Okay, I did check our recent history. Here it is:
https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296
Mr. Sanford asks:
“Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits?”
Answer:
Because the alternative is worse.
And it’s not exactly excuses being made; it’s dealing with what’s at hand, the cards dealt.
Trump could bluff he has a Royal Flush: “Vote for me – we will wipe out the entire now and future crushing US Government Deficit this weekend!”
But that’d be seen through and the other side would win simply by calling his bluff and laying down absolutely no cards of their own.
And then – and THEN! – we’d have a Democrat in the White House!
And THAT is an outcome none of us – I’m sure we can all agree – Left Right Center – whichever your political orientation – would want!
So there’s your answer, Mr. Sanford – the alternative is too gruesome. You wouldn’t want to touch with it with a ten foot pole.
2
@RLS .
Sorry you are wrong. Having a democrat in the White house would be great. I wish we still had President Obama. Even with the few mistakes he made he would be so much better the what lives there now. That is when he is not at one of his golf course making sure the Secret Service is paying top dollar for rooms at his propertiesin yes and those golf cart rentals.
3
You really need to ask? When Obama was president, we had the tea party claiming that Obama, trying to recover from one of the worst recessions in US history, was 'spending our future' with his stimulus plan, was going to 'destroy the country', we had all the patriotic people in their Uncle Sam Costumers, etc, and the the "Tea Party" took over the party (or so we were told).
Fast Forward: Trump gets elected, and suddenly trillion dollar plus budget deficits become the norm, he slashes taxes recklessly (and like past GOP tax cuts a la supply side economics, doesn't produce much of a bump in growth), yet the GOP is suddenly silent, including supposed Tea Party faithful.
Why? Well, for one, the budget deficits, like under Reagan, gave huge tax giveaways to corporations and the very well off, which their blue collar base , fed by Fox News, claims is making the economy great again, despite wage growth being a joke and manufacturing tanking.
The biggest reason? black skin trumps (all pun intended) fake spray on tan, in terms of perceptions of evil. Obama runs deficits? He is doing it to help people on welfare and 'those people', not "real americans". Trump causes budget deficits? Must be for a good cause, because he is a white guy.
3
You had me until you by reflex agreed with your conservative friends that a Sanders (Democrat) presidency would be worse for the budget. Hogwash! Obama got the economy under control and back on track with deficit spending that helped the economy. Where we you and your ilk? Opposing. Trying to make him a one term president. Sanders would do the same by spending money that helps people, not corporations.
5
Irresponsibility about the deficit is only one aspect of how Republicans are failing this country. They are the domestic threat to our constitutional democracy as the sham trial in the Senate made clear. They continue to back a president who undermines our governing principles. South Carolinians such as Mick Mulvaney and Lindsey Graham are among the Republicans who care little about deficits or upholding their oaths of office.
4
This feeds into the biggest political lie; that Republicans are fiscally responsible and care about deficits. The three largest tax breaks that increased the Federal deficit occurred under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donal J. Trump, all Republicans. The last two were passed by Republicans who controlled both houses of Congress. At some level, facts matter!
9
Didn't Mr. Trump once say "he loves debt?"
What risks he wants to take with his own "fortune" (if such really exists) doesn't concern me. What he is doing with the USA should concern all of us.
6
Mr. Sanford,
If you look at the history of the republican cult, it is finger wagging on the deficit when a Dem is in office and then it is party like it is 1999 when you manage to squeak in a republican.
A lot of people are wise to it. So as your current disastrous president prepares to be booted out in November, it is not surprising to me that you are beating the drums of 'fiscal conservatism.' Just in time to try to hamstring the next democrat from carrying out any policies.
So transparent. So disgusting.
8
There were plenty of howls by Republicans about the deficit when Obama was president. Those howls have gone silent. Hypocrisy!
8
What were the deficits figure in past and now under various administration since end of Carter era?
Under 1 Trillion when Carter left,around 3 Trillion when Regan finished 8 years,8 Trillion after Bush Sr.’s one term presidency which perhaps Skyped to 11-12 Trillions when Clinton left with balanced budget gains for next president but Bush Jr. again messed up with with his obsession for creation of ownership societies and out off budget spending on Afghanistan,Iraq wars hidden in cooked budget books. When added to regular budget deficits by Obama administration,it ended up close to 18-20 Trillions for which Republicans started blaming Obama for their crimes. Where it gonna end up by the end of Trump’s first term-staggering 23-24 Trillions and if he gets his second term,may top 30 Trillions with such lousy republicans both in congress & senate because deficits doesn’t matter when they govern but it badly bothers them if the nation is governed by Democrats who try to balance the budget.
6
This is why I vote Democrat, although oddly enough, both parties have turned New Jersey into the same mess we see in the federal gov't, where no matter how much we pay in taxes, the debt just keeps growing. Go figure.
1
Mark Sandford wrote:
" A trillion-dollar deficit is nothing more than a deferred tax bill for $1 trillion."
Correction, Mr. Sandford, a trillion-dollar deficit is nothing more than unraised taxes PLUS interest until that trillion dollars is paid off.
Another correction is blaming this problem on the Trump administration and ignoring the fact the GOP's fixation on cutting taxes and ignoring the resulting deficits dates back to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
Another correction would be admitting "supply side economics" failed to replace the cut taxes with new revenues to create a budget neutral situation.
5
This is another argument for what I believe is a winning strategy for Democrats in the next election. Democrats need to run against Republicans as disloyal to the country. The strategy worked well for Republicans back in the '40s and '50's, but this time it has the advantage of being true. Republicans have enabled Trump's ignoring of the law and constitution as well as creating a trillion dollar structural deficit--that's a deficit with a strong, peacetime, economy--with huge tax cuts for the rich. How can they claim to be patriotic, loyal, Americans? Of course, I'm not holding my breath waiting for Democrats to pursue a winning strategy.
1
Have to agree with much of this criticism. However, I feel there are other issues that are even more important than fiscal responsibility.
First, of course, is climate change. Then there is the matter of national security: Trump has sold us out to the likes of the Saudis and the Russians. Small as their economies are, they could wipe us out on the cheap with cyber war. Can you imagine attacks on our electrical infrastructure? Our clean water, such as it is?
I can. There are many ways that Trump's presidency could lead us to total devastation. Trump is a national emergency.
5
This article skirts the main issue - Lowering interest rates and increasing spending are the tools government uses during an economic slowdown to soften the blow. These two implements will not be available for the next inevitable recession or depression.
6
Let’s be clear here: Republican governments are the problem. Spending high and cutting taxes are not the path to financial stability.
5
@Buttons C
Are spending high and taxing high the path to financial stability?
One of the biggest motivators in a capitalist society is the chance to improve your quality of life which is usually accomplished by earning more money. To punish people for being successful doesn't inspire much motivation to become successful.
Likewise the approach of "make the other guy pay for it" is really being selfish.
No one has cut my taxes, I keep paying more and more. Only the rich get tax cuts. In some other country, people might be rioting, but Americans are stupidly drugging themselves with opioids instead of fighting their real enemies, rich people.
5
Jeff Bezos spent more on his new house than Amazon paid in corporate taxes. Much of the 2017 tax cut financed stock buybacks and produced illusory profits that drove Trump's beloved market to irrational, unsupportable highs. The deficits are intended to buy Trump and McConnell's Senate majority another four years. They'll matter again to Republicans when the next Democratic president is elected to again clean up their mess.
9
Thank you Mr. Sanford for presenting this message loud and clear! A business man with so many bankruptcies is doing to same to our country as President! Go Mike Bloomberg and get rid of this egghead.
3
Mr. Sanford,
If you are reading this, "It's a mistake tht each one of us must work to correct..."
Wrong.
YOU and your REPUBLICANS caused the problem.
We cannot correct your mistakes.
We are not in power. Your group of incompetents is.
Please write your op ed for fox news.
12
It irks me just a little (sarcasm intended) when a member of the party that continues to reveal itself as hollow, spineless, and shiftless is given space in the Times to remind us what an opportunistic lie the previous foundation of their party was.
Thanks for nothing Mr. Sanford - am sure you're on your King's "to wack" list now.
Please do something useful and tell us all who you plan on voting for in Nov.
6
Didn't Mr. Sanford read Paul Krugman's op-ed two days ago?
1
Mark, Who'd ya vote for in 2016?
It would have been a bit more serious had you started with your own apology for helping to create this monster.
5
Mr Sanford, just drink the kool-aid and everything will be clear. Don't you understand that as long at the uber rich are ok then the country must be as well. Don't worry about things like deficit or finical bubbles... They can not be explained in a 15 second sound bite or a catchy phrase. Besides it's the immigrant and liberals fault. What kind of republican are you anyway? Now go talk to Mitch McConnell and drink the kool-aid.
3
Because your party is full of cowards and liars. The worrisome deficit only matters when a Democratic president is in office and/or the House and Senate is controlled by Democrats. This deficit blow-up was very expected, but it did not matter. Deficit hawks when convenient.
5
We have Sweeney and Norcross, two Democrats who are almost as sleazy as Trump. I wish it was just the GOP...
Excuses are less effort than doing something. Working, thinking, having standards all involve effort. Republicans are just lazy.
3
It’s clear that we must raise taxes on the rich, close real estate loopholes, end subsidies to corporations like Exxon, and cut defense spending. After those cuts are in effect we’ll see what else if anything needs to be done to lower the deficit.
4
Not in my 60 plus years have Republicans really cared about deficits and debt.
They claimed to care about spending and the size of government on principle when in fact they were only interested in taxes. It used to be hard to cut taxes and not pay the bills.
But since Reagan showed the GOP that as Cheney put it "deficits don't matter" the GOP cares not about spending, only about tax cuts for the rich and corporations.
What Cheney did not make clear is deficits do not matter to getting re-elected, but they do for all the reasons Sanford lists. What Cheney and Bush showed was that huge spending is perfectly acceptable to the GOP as long as they get to direct that spending to their causes regardless of need or priority.
7
Trump and the Republican's plan to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid because of the deficit that they themselves created by giving themselves and their corporate and personal donors huge tax breaks is completely obvious. They literally do not care if large numbers of Americans die because of their own policies.
The comparison to Sanders is completely wrong-headed. Both Sanders and Warren have explained how their social programs - standard in all western democracies - will be paid for and save money in other places. Besides, as many have pointed out, the country gets actual, concrete benefits from their plans that will boost productivity, while Trump's tax cuts just result in a few individuals having astronomical amounts of cash put to no good use whatsoever.
Climate change is going to bankrupt this country in the not-so-distant future anyway, through direct costs (natural disasters, the need to protect population centers on the coasts or move populations, make up for failed ecosystems) and indirect costs (attempts to wall off the country from internal and external immigrants fleeing starvation and violence caused by climate change). Perhaps this is the biggest con ever - the 1% use their money to save themselves from climate change, having already consigned the rest of the country to a painful death.
6
So far, Trump's budget has given us nearly full employment and a powerful weapon in the trade war with China. I'd rather not have the deficits but those are powerful benefits from his spending.
2
"Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits"
Because Republicans are inherently dishonest and hypocritical. That's why.
18
For a minute I thought this was an op-ed by a Democrat. Thanks for illuminating about the blown deficit and blooming interest rates. Thanks to Trump and his cronies. The reason is massive tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. But this deficit is due to by leaving 99% Americans to the winds. Kind of like Queen Marie Antoinette eating cake on the backs of peasants who do not even have bread. We sure are headed to become a banana Republic. Russia interfered in our elections. Now they've made America in their own image!
8
@NNI
The American economy is way too diversified to devolve into a one-cash-crop economy dependent on the production and export of bananas.
1 “Deficits don’t matter” VP Dick Cheney
2 Power corrupts
7
Hypocrisy rife. Deficits don't matter, said a leading GOP light and Mark cheered that policy all the way to Argentina!
4
Two reasons: #1, job security a/k/a craven cowardice and #2, a conservative judiciary.
4
Republicans sadly don’t care what Trump does, as long as he’s Making America White Again. Blowing up the deficit, millions more without health insurance, impeachment, constant lying, inheriting an economy on third base and falsely claiming he hit a triple, etc. None of it matters as long as he reinforces their white identity.
8
@Maggie
There are only 10-12 million illegal immigrants in a country of 325 million. It’s a non-issue, when Republicans aren’t abusing them. And we’re nearly all immigrants or descendants of them, and immigrants add to the economy. If Trump wanted to hit his 5% GDP growth targets, he’d open the borders.
People with immigrants as a top 10 issue need to do some serious soul-searching.
2
Why? Because they will lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want. You know, like saying they're hiking the Appalachian Trail when they were climbing their paramour.
1
I think it is important to note that Trump has always used other people's money (his father's, Russian oligarchs', as well as the money laundering Deutche Bank) to buy stuff to make him look good. He then mismanages the money to extinction, and goes out and finds another sucker to fleece.
This time, the mark is the United States of America.
11
Mr. Sanford - I will tell you why your fellow Republicans make excuses for Trump. It is because they are unethical people and see a lot of Trump in themselves. Your party is corrupt, cynical and disrespectful of our institutions. It always has been. So they see a champion in Trump.
8
To Mr. Sanford: your fellow republicans WANT deficits. They use deficits in two ways - they rail against them when they are not in power as a lever to delay, defeat or weaken programs favored by those who won the election, and then they run up deficits so that they can pay off those who powered them to wins in elections. Your fellow Republicans are hypocrites and liars, and have been for many years now, decades actually. So please, no more hand-wringing about their supposed fealty to budgetary restraint. Wake up, have some coffee, and study your history. The answer you want is right in front of you.
5
But you did not answer the question- why?
Why are republicans going along with the emperor who has no clothes? Surely other conservatives could deliver without all the divisiveness, criminal behavior and fiscal irresponsibility- so why? There must be something else they love; is it the racism? The misogyny? The mean stupidity? The short term power? The glory of a collective suicide mission?
Why?
5
"If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline," he says of the party that twice fixed the broken economy that the GOP bungled, and will do again in 2020.
12
Deficits have gone down in the last few Democratic administrations. They have gone up in the last few Republican administrations. Math is math, Mr. Sanford - there is no evidence available in the past few decades that the GOP actually is fiscally conservative. On this front, as on so many others, the GOP is no longer conservative but radical and entranced with falsehoods.
7
The problem is not what we owe. It's always spending priorities.
If we are a trillion dollars in debt to pay for universal health care, that would be a boon to families across the country.
Instead, we're in such debt to give tax cuts to rich people.
Let's hear Sanford's ideas on that.
9
One would assume that not engaging in marital infidelity would also be a conservative value. Conservatism ( if it ever truly existed ) is dead. Didn't you hear? Deficits don't matter...
2
Most people don't understand how economy works. Trump knows that, his rhetoric is instant gratification, materialism. They won't vote for Sanders because they don't know the difference between social democracy and communism. Same with climate change. He says "where's the global warming? Look how cold it is." Unfortunately the people who vote for Trump will not be reading the NY Times, nor will read opinions contrary to their own, nor will travel outside of the United States, nor will bother to look at a map of the world. All they care about is today, tomorrow, and the weekend when they can go to Walmart and fill their shopping carts with calories and preservatives. Trump will win re-election thanks to all of them, and thanks to the people who don't want Trump but will not go out to vote because they simply aren't convinced with any of the Democratic contenders. So prepare yourselves for four more years of a narcissistic autocrat interested in himself, and only himself.
6
Sanford says " If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline...."
Gotta call him on that. It hasn't been true since Eisenhower. Just look at a graph of budget deficit by president. It goes up under R's and down under D's. Consistently.
Republicans have always been phonies on spending. Trump is no different. Mr. Sanford wraps this lie in criticism of Trump, but it's still a lie.
11
I am not a historian, nor am I an economist or a politician. But if memory serves, it was crushing debt that helped bring down the USSR. Was it not? Might Trump’s ally in Russia remember this better than he? and if so, what is he really up to in supporting this presidency?
4
The tax breaks he gave the rich will finance his next election.
2
"Sustaining the American Dream" you lost me, and the 99% of the country.
A lesson for the US electorate. Michael D. O’Higgins is President of Ireland. He is 77 years old and was re-elected for a second 7-year term last year. He is respected by all political parties and loved by the Irish population. Me O’Higgins is a quite spoken, very learned scholar. He attends many social events and can be seen walking among the ordinary people without secret service protection. He is a very effective leader. ”If we only had old Ireland over here”
These days, Republicans are not conservative in any sense of the word.
4
So, Mr. Sanford, how do the spells of the charlatans get broken, according to MacKay? Anything short of political or financial catastrophe for an entire society?
1
First, Mr. Sandford, let me reassure you. Your conservative "friends" aren't looking the other way. They're looking straight on at what Trump & McConnell are doing and they like it. If they didn't, they've had ample opportunity to stop him, and we've heard barely a peep. You can't expect Mitt Romney to act as the Jimminy Cricket for the entire GOP. Like GWB II, Trump is taking care of his base. And by that, I don't mean the adoring MAGA hat-wearing crowds at his Nuremberg rallies. I mean the people and corporations (including the Trump family) who have benefitted so generously from his looting of the public purse. That was always his intention and he never hid it all that well. If you genuinely care about the future of this country, switch parties, Mr. Sandford. Step away from the Dark Side. Or just wait until there's a Democrat in the White House and then the GOP fiscal pearl-clutching will surface again. In the meantime, just remember the wisdom of your conservative saint, Karl Rove: "Deficits don't matter".
7
Could this be one of the first attempts by what Jeff Sharlet called The Family to dump Trump now that it is clear he is not going to be re-elected? They want to continue to burden government with ever increasing deregulation, huge deficits and racists policies but not with Trump. He was a shiny trinket that fell in their lap but now his usefulness lies in him taking the blame for everything while they keep control. I suspect that, if needed, they will endure 4-8 years of Democratic rule while they do their destructive best to continue the downward spiral of the middle class and squirrel away the financial and other benefits of our economy on their way to the ultimate dream: a white, racist dictatorship based on the false assumption of white, Christian superiority. Theirs is the long game. Read up on Sanford’s relationship with this shadowy group in Sharlet’s The Family and his C Street.
3
Mr. Sanford...I think it's great that you are speaking up and speaking out, but I wonder. If you were STILL a sitting US Representative and hadn't been voted out of office, would you have been the lone Republican who spoke up about this "mounting crisis?" Be honest, now. Would you have written an op-ed for the New York Times at the risk of being alliteratively labeled (poor ol' "miserable, misunderstood Mark")?
My guess is no.
3
Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. Your fellow Republicans have been willing co-drivers of deficits for decades. Fixing fiscal disasters is the dirty work your fiscally illiterate party leaves to Democratic Administrations. Spending like drunken sailors on the country's credit card is what Republicans are perhaps most expert at. And, of course, the very moment a Democrat takes over the White House, we will all be treated to the comical, unified display by all the members of your invertebrate party spouting their newly-found, biblical adherence to the principles of fiscal discipline. There may have been a time when Republicans were intelligent, rational, contemplative, and actually understood what patriotism means. That time has long since passed.
5
Two things. First, the entire corpus of national GOP Senators and Reps are utter phonies. Their only concern is that the GOP gain and consolidate power and that they keep their seats. How are you blind to this Mark Sanford? Talk about delusions. Do you really think you served with people of honor? Second, Trump's record as a businessman is no cause for confidence. However, he's been able to hide the extent of his presumed incompetence by illegally withholding his tax records from Congressional requests and not making them public in full despite his obviously dishonest assertions that he would but he is under continuous audit. The entire GOP is a cult.
7
Hilarious. Sanford’s mention of Obama in the sixth paragraph gives the game away. Of course the GOP would (and did) howl about the deficit under Obama ... or any Democratic President. Once in office however, their concern for deficits vanishes like the mirage it truly is. This has been the case since the Reagan administration, and has merely become more blatant under Trump. Significantly, the only President in recent memory to achieve a budget surplus was Bill Clinton. Rather than cheer him on, the Republicans impeached him over a sex scandal not unlike Mr. Sanford’s own.
While one can applaud Mr. Sanford for calling out the Republicans’ blatant hypocrisy, it is disingenuous at best to imply that this is anything new. ‘Twas ever thus.
4
No surprise here sir as Trump is simply doing what Trump has always done - spending like a drunken sailor with little care for how much debt he incurs or carries. Bankruptcy, his ace in the hole, along with defaulting and tax fraud. The difference now is its our money and he is creating a monumental debit for we taxpayers and our offspring to deal with. Does Trump care? Not in the least.
4
It was the plan of the neocons to blow up the budget then tank the economy in order to create a crisis that allows them to get rid of Social Security, Medicare and any other programs and departments they don’t like.
5
"The ultimate measure of government was what it spent?" I would argue it comes from who it keeps alive. That's the distinction between liberals, and the center left/remaining sane conservatives.
1
Re: "Why Do My Fellow Republicans Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits?"
the most concerning deficit has nothing to do with deficit spending; rather, it is a pathological inability to think critically or empathize.
5
For powerful Americans, the real crimes are those against money, not people. Note that the reason Sanford chooses for why conservatives should abandon Trump has nothing to do with his autocratic tendencies, abject cruelty, gross incompetence, astonishing stupidity, blatant racism, etc. Those are all fine. What *really* matters to Sanford and other Republicans is money.
Sanford betrays his foolishness by incorrectly targeting national debt as the biggest danger for countries. It's climate change. No contest.
9
He was making a good argument until this: 'If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten.'
Republicans have long thought themselves as fiscally conservative but their track record does not back them up. Look at George Bush's policies and now Trump's (and repub presidents before them) and you'll see the deficit grow larger. They then leave the mess to be cleaned up by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama while actually blaming them for the problem and saying we have to rein in the deficit. Mark my words. The deficit will be a big issue again next year if a Dem wins the presidency.
15
This is a huge and growing by the minute problem...... hopefully
the opposition candidates will push this hidden looming catastrophe into the foreground.
Trump is running the economy the same way he ran his business,
borrow , borrow, lie, leverage , borrow some more and walk away.
6
It really is simple. When you figuratively spend more than you make, it goes on our national credit card. When Republicans are in power, they spend more than we make. When Republicans are not in power, they demand Democrats balance the budget. Really, tax breaks to the rich take from the rest of us. It is a zero sum game. Follow the money!
8
The only way the budget is going down is if tax cuts gets cancelled (also known as raising taxes) or sacred cows, like SS and Medicare get cut. Contrary to left wing thinking eliminating the defense budget wouldn’t balance the budget. It’s not big enough. Most of the budget is give aways. The right has told us for decades now that tax cuts pay for themselves. And as we all know, that’s never happened either, no matter what the economy is doing. Clinton targeted tax cuts to people who spend the money, what used to be working people and the vanishing middle class, but that’s not popular now. Obama could have gotten rid of Ws tax cuts in 2009, when the democrats held everything but didn’t. So what to do? How about a combo of automatic cuts to EVERYTHING, across the board and tax increases on anybody making over 250/year (progressive of coarse and much reduced deductions) until the budget is balanced? It’s clear that neither party has the guts to what needs to be done, so maybe it’s time for the chips to fall, no matter who they land on.
1
The only thing you got wrong: "entire societies have set aside their own good judgment under the spell of a charlatan". In fact a majority of this society recognizes a charlatan when they see one. It's why his opponent got 3 million more votes than he. The best defense against charlatanism is a true democracy. Get rid of the anti-democratic, antiquated electoral college and reform a senate the represents a minority of Americans, so that we don't get another situation where they acquit a president they all know to be guilty.
9
Cut. The. Military. Budget.
Raise. Taxes.
Raise the minimum wage.
8
How can we expect fiscal probity from a person who has been a fiscal disaster his whole business life? He has no concept of what is involved with budget sanity.
9
I think the cynical answer to the question of why more Republicans are not speaking up about the exploding deficit is that it intentional with the end objective of creating an financial crisis requiring a massive cut in social services to avert total disaster.
7
Democrats and ‘progressives’ herein think the budget originates in the White House.
The budget is written by the Democrat-controlled House.
Where is their zero-deficit budget?
I believe you completely ignore (typical for individuals on the right, which, by your comment I assume you are) of the fact that the looming duvet problem we are facing was passed into en GOP controlled house... and you conveniently gloss over that it is GOP presidents by and large who increase our deficits immensely... not just a little, but immensely
1
Fiscal responsibility = proper resource allocation. Trump administration budget = cash in my cronies, keep me in power and let W2 tax payers cover the hole in the future.
3
Why does everyone assume deficits would go up under Sanders? For one thing rich people and corporations like Amazon would actually start having to pay taxes. Imagine that. We'd stop giving away billions to welfare farmers and ranchers buying their votes. Tariffs hard on you? Tough, you voted for him, why shouldn't you bear the consequences of your actions as you bray about people on Medicaid not working? You're not working.
Build the military as they think it should be built, not continue to fund expensive unwanted military items like jets and ships. Save the Wart Hog!
Congress would provide a check on Sanders unlike Trump now. College wouldn't be free for all but it would return to being affordable for middle class kids. Same thing for health care, climate change and infrastructure. Change priorities and use the system to bring us into the 21st century now.
4
When to comes to economic performance, remind me again why I should fear a president with a D beside his name?
R-Reagan: trickle down fails, he hands...
R-Bush I: a weak economy so we get...
D-Clinton: who gives us tax increases on the rich leading to a surplus, so...
R-Bush II: can have two recessions, including the great one, one tax cut predicated on Clinton’s surplus, and another on a need for “stimulus” so ...
D-Obama, denied the level of stimulus needed for an almost depression, still handed trump a hot economy with falling unemployment and deficits so...
R-Trump could once again cut taxes and explode the deficit.
I apologize to Mr. Sanford if I am seeing a pattern here that he would rather I didn’t see.
And of course there is still the problem that his entire premise is based on the understanding that govt. debt leads to runaway inflation and exploding interest rates like we have now... oh, wait, we don’t?
Oops!
6
The ultimate financial con job has been the Right's lies about Liberal's policies will ruin our economy.
Just about every financial crisis in the past hundred and fifty years has been caused by Republican greed and irresponsibility.
Time to enforce "trickle-UP" policies.
3
Oh please Mr Sandford, you are well aware that deficit spending is an engineered feature of your party, not a bug of the current GOP administration.
It's called "starve the beast."
3
"If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten."
Typical political hack talking here, even while pointing out the dangerous policies of his own president supported by almost all members of his own party in Congress, still managing to pretend that the fault is on the other side.
Malarkey.
4
Well said Mr. Sanford. But the Trumpists only want to hear the fabricated good news, not reality.
3
When a Republican is in office, running up the national deficit is just good business, just good old SOP. When a Democrat is in office, the deficit is sold as economic cancer leading to ruin beneath the heels of our enemies. Reagan said our national deficit was like a stack of dollars reaching to the moon. The nefarious Democratic led congress was all tax and spend and a cause of economic ruin. It didn’t stop Reagan from running up the deficit to revamp the military. GHW Bush was no better. It took Bill Clinton and a giant tech bubble to erase the national deficit and leave the country with a surplus. GW immediately gave that surplus away. W had no problem deficit spending and proceeded to do so... CUT TO: Economic Collapse. CUT TO: Obama Recovery. CUT TO: Trump/McConnell running up a trillion dollar deficit while handing out tax cuts to the rich. Anyone else see a pattern here?
5
I disagree with Mr. Sanford only on one point and it is that in my opinion the republican party no longer exists. I used to be a republican but now the party is unrecognizable. As a glaring example watch a part of the last speech that Ronald Reagan gave as president about immigration (4 minutes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8QxCD6ir8
1
Of all the crimes trump has committed, financially fraudulent budgets are the top of the list?
2
When I saw the headline, I thought that this was an Op-Ed about Trump's deficits with a capital "D" - his lack of character, integrity, humility, smarts, empathy, etc., etc. But yeah, these deficits are another blight on this country and just like his business career, he's happy to leave a mess for others to clean up AND pay for.
3
Fiscal irresponsibility is a slow death for our country. Ignoring environmental issues is a more rapid death for the entire planet. Both are issues the Republican Party should be leading on, being all “conservative” and all. And yet, it is abortion and guns they care about, and throw in some good old fashioned racism for good measure to get over the top. This party is owned and operated by greedy players who only care about more and more money, to accumulate more and more power. That’s it. To think that we are accumulating all this debt, and all this environmental damage and the very wealthiest are playing their golden fiddles while we all burn makes me want to go all the way back to where it started and take back my vote for Ronald Reagan. If only I could.
3
Republicans say, 'Better to Make Excuses for Trump’s Deficits that get called out in a tweet.'
For those old enough do you remember when there was an add on the back of a pack of matches that had a tough guy kicking sand at a skinny guy? At least the skinny guy went to the gym, bulked up and kicked down that tough guy. I never realized that those were Republican matches.
1
Mr. Sanford I respect that you have spoke up but I'm sure you actually know the reason why Trump is blowing up the deficit and growing the US debt now at $22 trillion and greater than the US annual GDP. You also know why all republicans are looking the other way and going along with Trump on this. Trump as a businessman filed for bankruptcy numerous times which shows his utter lack of holding to conservative principles. He cares little for fiscal discipline or the long term financial health of the US. He just wants to keep the economy going strong at least through 2020 to be reelected as president. The same goes with his berating of Fed chairman Powell to maintain unreasonably low interest rates. Republican politicians are fine with this rather than incur the twitter wrath of Trump. Even more importantly they are going along with this in order to stay in power. They are all, other than Romney, acting as "professional" politicians who care little about right or wrong and will cling to any leader no matter how corrupt in order to be in office and use its powers for their advantage.
By the way I don't believe there are true republican fiscal conservatives at least during a republican administration. They only come out during democratic administrations. Republicans as fiscal conservatives is a joke.
3
The gift of the last three years has been to see how thoroughly hypocritical Republicans have been for the past thirty. They've cared as little for "the deficit" as they care for any of their other supposed values. Oh sure, they'd like to reclaim some semblance of belief system but they've sold out the most dearly held principles of what it means to be working toward the American Promise
2
Each and every American - that is every man, woman and child - $70,720. Imagine this debt on your credit score. We are blowing it so badly. Government has no business running trillion dollar deficits during the best of times. It should really be agains the law, and perhaps needs to be made impossible. No AI system would ever run the government's finances this way. When the Republican led Congress passed the recent tax cuts, even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was on NPR talking it up. This is insane. A Trillion dollars is a great deal of money. This country is on its way to financial ruin without severe intervention. And The KING OF DEBT sure as heck does not care.
3
This week’s headline - Pentagon to divert $3.8 billion to border wall - put an explanation point on the deficit situation.
Questions for Congress:
* why did you approve an extra $3.8 billion to the Pentagon if it really wasn’t needed?
* if the funding was truly needed by the Pentagon, then why are you letting Mr. Trump take $3.8 billion for his vanity project?
1
De facto abrogation of the National Debt is a certainty because Americans will never agree to the relatively modest sacrifices required. This may occur long before the current occupant of the White House snd his enablers get to explain stuff to St. Peter. My bet is it will begin with abrogation of the debt held by “foreigners,” because after all they made good, hard working Americans borrow the dough.
They ignore all of this for one reason: power. They have it now, and they think Trump is going to help them keep it. Full stop. Who needs a national conscience when you have power?
5
Finally a courageous Republican speaks out to criticize the President, and deficits is what bothers Mr. Sanford the most?
4
And since Reagan, it has been the GOP that talked about fiscal responsibility while racking up the debt and deficits, and the Dems that had to rein it in. Hmmm.
In addition to the MacKay book you cite, Aldous Huxley had an important epilogue in his non-fiction book "The Devils of Loudon" about a similar effect of rallies, crowd psychology, the spell of a charlatan - in his case he was referring to how Hitler got the German nation to go along with an insane and cruel extermination policy...Trump's tactics and the spell he seems to have cast over a compliant and complicit GOP has worked to simultaneously dismantle all democratic norms as he reaches for autocratic power, and a reckless fiscal policy to "juice" his economy at least in statistical numbers if not in people's pockets. Both are dangerous. When the GOP awakens from the "spell" they will have to answer for all the things they have allowed to happen on their watch.
5
In my opinion, Trump is tolerated because Trump is Mitch McConnell's useful idiot in the Republican's long-term effort to create a right-leaning judiciary to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Mitch is willing to risk the republic and democracy to achieve this. Trump is just an instrument to be tolerated.
3
The GOP is letting the president getting his way because they are profiting and lining their own pockets. Follow the money. Bunch of lunatics and liars.
5
Please go to Sanford's website:
https://www.marksanford.com/
He's still asking for money and not even running.
Plus, there is no way to contact him to express a comment unless you want to give him money.
Mr. Sanford, how stupid do you think we are?
2
Trump is the self-proclaimed King of Debt. Campaign promise fulfilled. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-king-of-debt-224642
Because you and your fellow Republicans would excuse murder if Trump committed it. You have no line. You have no morals. You are all beyond shameless. That's why.
3
Wow, two pages, 19 paragraphs to paraphrase. “Deficits bad.. nnnkay……Don’t do deficits…nnnkay……” Is there a solution somewhere in that pablum??…No?….Oh wait… Entitlements?…. Yea thought so…… That’s where all “conservatives” look to fix the problems we have, On the backs of the less fortunate. Funny how the only time we have shrinking deficits is under Democratic administrations, but that’s the only time “conservatives” seem to complain about it.
5
@David pre-paid benefits are not "entitlements"...
Now massive subsidies for oil companies, those are entitlements.
As are 12% tax rates for hedge fund managers.
As are tax deductible "chuches".
2
What is the point of the Times publishing this conventionally wrong Republican view of debt and deficits the day after publishing Paul Krugman's column in which he correctly explains the advantages of government borrowing to spend at a time when interest rates are nearly zero and when the world is awash in wealth that is ooking for any safe place to earn any interest at all? Krugman points out that the critically important difference between useful and ruinous deficit spending is whether the spending addresses the collective needs of the people, and improves their ability to have jobs, create wealth, and raise their children (e.g., spending on infrastructure, education, and health care). Sanford completely misses that difference, and simply mouths a typical Republican talking point that debt is bad. And maybe that's the unintended reason for publishing this opinion: to illustrate how completely out of touch never-Trumpers have become: irrelevant in their own party, and wrong on the issues outside the GOP.
4
Reading your comment I ask myself, where is the spending on education, infrastructure, etc.? I don’t see it. I do see it on the Secret Service coverage of Trump’s golf trips, a border wall, and the military.
3
Putting more people in financial ruin furthers the evangelical dream of turning America into a rigid theocracy while at the same time strengthens a caste system that insulates the very rich. What more could a Republican want?
4
Deficits don't matter at all unless there's inflation. In fact, refusing to run a deficit can ruin an economy. Deficits and the national debt are just rhetorical clubs that the elites use to beat down the rest of us.
1
In point of fact, this is always the same from the traditional GOP. Nevertheless, the national debt is a smaller percentage of the GDP than it has been in a generation.
I didn't get what I was hoping for. Mr. Sanford neglected to itemize where spending should go, and where taxes should be. Conservatives like him always think that taxes are bad, but certain spending -- military -- is good. The economy was doing fine without the Trump tax cuts and will do fine if they are completely reversed. The stock market will slip for awhile, but soon return to its upward trajectory as operating earnings replace the sugar induced high of tax cuts. Not once did Sanford suggest that the social security tax cap be lifted, which is an easy fix (but some will complain because conservatives have made all taxes evil). He didn't suggest how to reduce the medical insurance cost burden on consumers that would actually benefit their total income.
This was a useless column from a person who dislikes deficits but is all too willing to reduce them on the backs of the poor and lower income people.
What a waste of pixels and print.
3
Republican presidents from Reagan onward expanded the deficit and Democrat presidents restored fiscal sanity. The GOP is concerned only about democrat spending.
They’re fine with tax cuts that benefit the wealthy (and deepen inequality) but are deeply offended by spending that benefits the “undeserving” working and middle classes.
If Sanders were elected he wouldn’t be able to implement his most radical policies. But even if he did, the expenditures he wants to make are investments in this country, from infrastructure to climate resiliency, to education, to healthcare. These are not equivalent to giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy. 
4
The reasons are simple: Even though he lost the popular vote (thanks Cali ,NY, NJ, and a few others) by almost 3M people approximately 63M people still voted for him. Considering the majority of those votes came either from highly biased red states or from constituents of horrifically gerrymandered districts their political lives revolve around supporting Trump. The political existence is what separates them from the common man working long hours to exist in a society where the emphasis of respect is on the ultra wealthy. Their only connection to the wealthy is through their position in Washington. That is how they maintain their addiction. What are they addicted to? POWER!!! Don't support Trump, lose your power. Similar to Superman's Kryptonite.
1
"True — but that makes it all the more important for those of us on the right to vigorously challenge the president’s reckless financial path. If the left has abandoned all sense of fiscal discipline, we have to be the ones to talk numbers that most seem to have somehow forgotten."
This is priceless.
The left saved the economy the conservatives ruined during the Bush years, and our deficits were the result of saving said economy.
You should have realized, due to Trump's history, that his fiscal plan was the same one he used to prop up all of his failing businesses...borrow, cheat, lie and steal.
Sorry conservatives, you have NO leg to stand on anymore when it comes to the economy...or anything else come to think of it.
2
Throughout his career, Donald Trump has declared bankruptcy and defaulted on many, many Bank loans—to the extent that most banks will not do business with him. Trump has never had any intension of paying back any loan.
This is the man and the thinking with which the GOP is enraptured. What they refuse to accept is that this time the bank Trump is swindling is the United States.
3
Years ago while watching C-Span, a Republican politician declared that the entire purpose of the Republican Party is to protect rich people.
There's really nothing else we need to know about Republicans.
5
The King of Debt has made himself king. Paul Ryan has left the building. This will not end well, as so many of Trump's ventures.
3
The US Government will never run out of money, it issues the dollar.
All the dollars we use to pay taxes were created by the government.
The finances of the US Government are nothing like a household. The Government simply credits bank accounts. Again, it never runs out of money.
The power of the country comes from the physical things in the territory and from the skill of our workers to use it. The dollar is just a way to bring these real resources to use.
The federal debt never burdens future generations. They cannot pay real resources back through time to ‘pay it back’.
Federal deficits are income to you and I. Reducing the deficits means reducing income to companies and households.
The writer is wrong, and I’m sorry to say that many folks are thinking incorrectly about how government finances work.
2
So well stated Mr. Sanford. You are absolutely right.
I'm amazed at so many Republicans ignoring these huge deficits that have accumulated under the Trump Administration. Of course the economy would look "good" when we are borrowing from future generations to throw a Trillion dollars into the economy every year.
This is wrong and it has to stop now. I believe Michael Bloomberg is in the best position to do just that, and that's why I'll be voting for him in the Democratic primary next month.
2
@Tom Christiano The Federal Reserve has also pumped in $20 trillion buying up assets since Trump took office.
$1 trillion was near heresy when we were facing the greatest global financial collapse since the great depression. Yet they pump in $20 trillion when times are supposed to be good?
1
I am glad to find a Republican willing to raise a voice against the disastrous economic policies of the Trump Administration.
However, as Governor of South Carolina he tried to refuse $700 million from the post 2008 stimulus package. He tried to impose draconian cuts in spending similar to those Gov. Brownback of Kansas that destroyed that States economy.
He is what Paul Krugman calls a zombie wedded to the idea that tax cuts on the wealthy creates jobs, and when they don't (because they don't and never have) they argue it is the cost of social programs that are running up the debt/deficit.
I agree the debt is a problem. But the Big Lie that more cuts to the Taxes will make the economy strong is simply a big lie; an Extraordinary Delusion.
3
Could we please put the ideological debates aside for a minute, and talk about what outcomes will deliver the strongest America for our children? Excellent, affordable healthcare, quality public education, affordable housing, efficient mass transit, aggressive programs to address global warming, etc.?
I'd happily trade a new aircraft carrier or two for whatever that money could do to address these critical needs.
2
“…we want others to do the thinking for us. And across the ages promoters and con men have been more than willing to oblige. They invite us to indulge in the fantasy that a newfound father figure will fix it all, though it never works out that way…We are in one of those moments today…President Trump’s…State of the Union address …did not address our country’s bleak financial state…Yet amazingly, conservatives..somehow look the other way…” Well said.
The Republican Party has demonstrated that it does not believe in fiscal responsibility nor in national defense. We saw this before in the 1920s. This is what Republicans do.
4
"Milton Friedman said years ago that the ultimate measure of government was what it spent."
I'd change this to read that the ultimate measure is what the government spent the money ON.
Trump and the GOP spent about $100 billion on a tax cut for corporations and the wealthy. There is no ROI on tax funds spent on stock buybacks or the rich aggregating more wealth. If that $100 billion (each year!!) had been spent on infrastructure, that money would have multiplied into consumer spending (which is what drives out economy), paying off individual debt, family investments in housing and education. But, instead, we got a huge addition to our debt (and interest forever).
And think what could be done if some of that government spending on the Pentagon projects instead went into the energy grid, air traffic control system, transportation upgrades, and college grants (not loans) for those who need it. (Full disclosure: I went to college on a National Student Defense Grant, a program that accelerated the middle class growth in the 1950 and '60s and '70s.) Motivate defense corporations to repurpose some of that creative and engineering might from another aircraft carrier to projects that build up our nation. Fund our own Huawei (whatever happened to Cisco and NorTel?) for 5G; certainly we have engineers as smart as one Chinese corporation.
That all adds to the national wealth in ways a corporate tax cut can't.
6
The answer to your question is simple Mr Sanford.
If you look over the last 40 years of cycles of who is in control in Washington (party wise) and then overlay it with the national budget over time a pretty consistent result is observed.
A) Republicans only actually care about fiscal responsibility when they are NOT in power in Washington (ie: when they are the voting minority party). They effectively weaponize the deficit as a minority attack on any and all social policy designed to benefit those with less means and wealth. the Democrats in power push to become law of the land.
B) When Republicans are in power in Washington.. deficits simply to not matter to them... because they have voting power to undermine any Democrat attempt to promote legislation for social policy that benefits those with the lease assets and wealth. NO.. instead.. they burden future generations of Americans with unrestrained federal debt.
C) The original attempt for decades here by Republicans was to oppress and weaken the poor. However, over time...their tactics have now successfully also oppressed and weakened the middle class.
Frankly... these sorts of "fiscal oligarchy" in action... if they run long enough and extreme enough will leave the bulk of Americans with no recourse other then another civil war... and millions will die. This, by the way... could be the actual plan of the puppet masters behind the scenes pulling Republican strings.
8
President Trump and his enablers don't really care about ruination of the country, because they are already financially set for life with fat pensions, and their positions depend upon fealty to their leader. It is shocking how few in the federal government care about being true statesmen; one would think at least the elderly among them would do the right thing.
4
The only Republicans with the gumption to speak up are the ones not running for anything (Mitt Romney is the only exception and has earned my respect). And don't bother with slipping in the bit about how Bernie would be worse - it puts you too far out on a limb.
Here's a suggestion - if you truly care about this country, why don't you run as a third party candidate? You'll take enough votes away to stop the runaway Trump train. Sure, it's the political equivalent of falling on your sword, but you'll go down a national hero.
11
Donald Trump's fiscal problem isn't deficit spending, it's the wrong kind of deficit spending. See Paul Krugman's column today, as well as many earlier columns by Dr. Krugman. But, of course, there's no reason to expect Mark Sanford to accept the actual economic record over the legend adopted by his political party.
4
Problem is when the Republicans wake up to the threat of the deficit they decide they need to cut what they term entitlements, i.e. Medicare and Social Security, which frankly, those of us who have payed our taxes ARE ENTITLED to. They forget about all the tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. It is always the little guy who has to pay in the end. Same old story.
9
Why?
Because they don’t actually care about the well-being of the nation.
Only about the political fortunes of themselves and their party.
8
A question for Mr. Sandford; why do you still call yourself a Republican?
Another question; are Trumps fiscal policies the only thing, or even the most important thing, that Republicans make excuses for? If your answer to this question is yes, then there is no need to address the first question.
3
We have the bipartisan leadership with short-term vision and perspective, run by the personal greed, focused solely on own political survival, dependent on the campaign donations and terrified of the corporate controlled media outlets.
"Milton Friedman said years ago that the ultimate measure of government was what it spent." This statement is as angering as is the often touted idea that government should be run like a business. To many of us, the success of a government is the lives of its citizens. I realize those on the right think the role of the government is to control everyone else and to protect their money and their property. In that way, it fits to rate a government on how it spends and on running like a business.. For the rest of us, it in securing the four freedoms as well as universal health care, environmental protection, equal justice, and others that improve the quality of our lives.
6
Because the Republicans in office only care about getting more money for themselves and the rich people and industries that give them campaign funds, and they trade in lies to their base and get them all worked up about "family values" and "pro-life" and other stuff that they themselves don't care about, snickering all the way to the bank. They don't care about the environment of the future or the children of today and tomorrow--they just want their second homes and their fancy cars and private jets and lavish dinners now. Then they'll walk away when the economy is trashed and blame the Democrat who inherits their mess and is in the White House.
3
Mr. Sandford, it is the the way around. trump loves the 'good life' his father and now the American people are paying for. The republican knew they had their man, even though most find him personally distasteful because his is towing their line, not the other way around. NorquestPledge and other such ideas great intention was to bankrupt the government so the 'treats' for the working people Ann Coultur and her ilk talked about like Social Security would be destroyed.
There is only a myth of a conservative. I have never seen one really. That went out with Barry Goldwater. Since then republicans spend away and build depth.
Of course Bernie is not an the answers to debt. But the labels of left and right miss the whole point. Most politicians have little to no understanding of our 21st century economic drivers and what it will take to prosper in the years to come.
We know trump and mcdonnell don't. It doesn't look like you do either!
2
Almost all of Trump's economic policies provide short-term gains and longterm pain. High deficits during good economic times just provide a sugar rush to the economy.
Trade is a partial exception to this: the short term pain of Trump's trade wars will lead to much greater long term pain as Trump damages global trade and isolates us more than it should be possible to isolate the world's largest economy.
Slashing legal immigration, which uses fear to impoverish us spiritually, will also bring decades of economic harm.
Even in deregulation, the area where I as a longtime Republican am most sympathetic to Trump's efforts, there is too much cronyism and too little effort to maintain legitimate health and safety goals. That too will bring longterm economic costs.
4
"Finally, our growing debt makes the American dream more elusive, and in doing so weakens us all. "
Which American Dream? The one for people living in big, comfy houses, shopping at Whole Foods and taking fabulous vacations, (as recommended by the travel writers in this and every other major newspaper)? Or is it the American Dream for people living hand to mouth, struggling to pay rent/mortgage, out food on the table, educate their kids?
Stop using the "American Dream" as a social yardstick. It isn't real.
3
@Daria
Well Said!
Mr. Sanford's column would have far more resonance if he had voted against rather than for the Tax cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (aka the Trump Tax Cut) which went a long way to exacerbating the problem he now complains about.
Mr. Sanford, with his "yes" vote on that bill is as much responsible for the problem as are his former colleagues in the House and the Senate.
5
If Bernie's vision could actually be instituted, it would save the economy. Tax the super rich and get money back in the till for expenses; stop spending too much money on war weapons and the military; support science and industries
to save the environment; change the system!
1
Want to reduce the deficit? Vote for Democrats. It is the only thing that has worked in the last 30 years. Democrats pay for their plans. Republicans refuse to raise taxes, and keep pretending that there are government programs they can cut without losing votes but never seem to find those programs. The Kansas experiment failed, even conservatives want a government as large as it is now or larger.
8
@Dan M
Vote Dems, but now that the GOP & Conservatives have publicly declared deficits mean nothing, its time to fix for good Medicare, the ACA, and infrastructure without guilt that has for too long been used to have us strike a bargain.
The Military has enough. President "Tin Cup" has said so himself! "Best in the world!!" he crows.
Time to fix all the the things we have seen other countries with far less resources than we have, that they say we can't because of the great GOP Boogeyman "The Deficit"
The Boogeyman is dead, the GOP said so!
1
Isn't it obvious?
ALL "republican" candidates and office holders receive torrents of Koch / Mercer / Adleson money flowing straight into their campaign accounts. And they don't care about cooperation, they only want to viciously compete. They want things THEIR way. They know if they suggest anything against the ever-present rigid consensus of the republican party they will be stripped of that money, and will face a well-funded primary challenger during the next election. So, they "go with the flow" no matter how off the wall or hysterical their defense of Trump's abuses are. Who knows! Perhaps they are under contract somehow to do the bidding of those who fund their campaigns and therefore are in jeopardy of being on the hook for the money that's given to them if they don't tow the line.