U.S. Deficit Surges

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Neither party can claim fiscal responsibility. They all like to spend money we don’t have.
 
RuthAnne said:
Neither party can claim fiscal responsibility. They all like to spend money we don’t have.
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While this is certainly true, the current administration seems to have taken “spending money we don’t have” to a whole new level.
 
The Democrats give lip service to the Constitution. The Republicans give lip service to the Constitution. It’s all the same. There are very few who care.
 
ChuckB said:
While this is certainly true, the current administration seems to have taken “spending money we don’t have” to a whole new level.
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Remember, Trump is the “King of Debt”. He said so. Why is anyone surprised?
 
ChuckB said:
What happened to all the conservative deficit hawks?

Oh yeah…Trump happened.
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Both parties have had this problem for quite some time. It was back to the Clinton admin when conservatives last had this as a key policy

Cutting the Deficit requires cutting entitlements, and it’s too unpopular.
 
I can’t relate to either party. I believe the last time we had a surplus was under Clinton when the Economy was surging and Federal Welfare was cut. But as a Catholic I cannot for the life of me relate to either party. So, I tend to vote for state and local issues.

But the current deficit has been a work in progress with high tax cuts, followed by high spending in the military and the wars in the Middle East. I’m 38 and will not have children, so I don’t have anything to worry about. But future generations will have to worry about the deficit as more and more tax dollars will go to make payments to it. So, the only two solutions are to raise taxes and to cut Federal programs.

My biggest concern right now is when the next recession will hit and how deep it will hit and for how long. Every time there is a recession the middle class keeps shrinking and the wealth divide grows. So, we’ll see what happens in the future.

Religiously, I favor making peace with everyone. So, while I wouldn’t vote for Trump I’m not against Trump Supporters. Trump supporters like Trump for his pro-life stance, immigration policy, and tax cuts which they calculate into creating jobs and helping the Economy. The unfortunate thing right now is the Democrats aren’t really offering any alternatives in terms of platform to excite anyone to vote for them. So, I expect Trump to get a second term.

For me, my family is safe and we live in a part of America where neighbors get along with neighbors. So, there is nothing government can do to enhance my life or ruin my life. The Democrats really have to realize religious folk do vote for them and they can’t swing far left if they expect the majority to vote for them. The Democrats need someone moderate, an FDR type and LBJ type to really bring in reforms like funding trade schools, community colleges, and other educational reforms to get people out of industries that are declining into new licensed skilled careers.
 
The deficit was higher in dollar terms during the first four years of the Obama administration, and much higher as a percentage of GDP.

That’s not to say I favor deficits. Trump’s deficits are generally acknowledged to be mainly due to increased defense spending. This country is facing ever-greater foreign threats, so I can’t really say they’re unwarranted increases.
 
The tax cuts are a huge factor. They did not “pay for themselves.” When you fuel the economy with huge deficit spending people feel happy and are more willing to vote for the incumbent. They don’t realize that the good times were purchased by their grandchildren, who had no say in the matter.
 
Generally, tax cuts do result in increased revenues sometime later. It’s a delayed reaction. But since spending always increases as much or more, there is always a deficit. Interesting to look at the Bush years post tax cut, for example. The deficit increased substantially, due to the tax cut somewhat but mainly due to two wars. But then the revenues began moving up, reducing the annual deficit, but the spending increased (with the wars no small part of it) as well, so the revenue increase did not eliminate the deficit.
 
For the record a 10% surtax was imposed in 1969 to offset the cost of the Vietnam War. Was an unpopular war too but helped the national budget.
 
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ChuckB said:
While this is certainly true, the current administration seems to have taken “spending money we don’t have” to a whole new level.
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Absolutely right! He should line up all of the extra-constitutional spending and go down the line.
But he won’t.
 
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