The Briefing Room
General Category => Economy/Business => Topic started by: corbe on January 29, 2019, 09:33:48 pm
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CBO report shows that spending, not Trump tax cuts, are primarily driving the nation's deficits
by Philip Klein
January 29, 2019 04:09 PM
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office makes it abundantly clear that historically high spending is what's driving the massive growth in deficits over the next decade -- not the tax cuts that President Trump signed into law in 2017.
To be sure, it's undeniable that Trump's tax cuts, which were not offset by spending decreases, did result in lower revenue even when taking into account economic growth. This has made deficits higher than they would have been were it not for the tax cuts.
That having been said, it's clear that the bigger issue is that (largely as a result of growth in Social Security and Medicare), spending has gotten way out of whack with where it has been historically. That is, the government will be collecting an ordinary amount in taxes, but its spending will be extraordinary.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/cbo-report-shows-that-spending-not-trump-tax-cuts-are-primarily-driving-the-nations-debt (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/cbo-report-shows-that-spending-not-trump-tax-cuts-are-primarily-driving-the-nations-debt)
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(https://momsguidetotravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CaptainObviousRaise-the-roof.gif)
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To be sure, it's undeniable that Trump's tax cuts, which were not offset by spending decreases, did result in lower revenue even when taking into account economic growth. This has made deficits higher than they would have been were it not for the tax cuts.
In other words, they didn't do what the Republicans insisted they would do.
You cannot grow your way out of a deficit, the way the Republicans insist.
(You also cannot selectively tax your way out of a deficit by simply choosing to tax a small minority of people who are not politically convenient, as the Democrats insist.)
At the rate our economy is going, there is no excuse for the budget not to be balanced, other than the ignorance of an American people who personally benefit from the consistent overspending and figure they don't have to worry about leaving the mess to their children if they don't have children.
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File under, "Duh!"
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In other words, they didn't do what the Republicans insisted they would do.
You cannot grow your way out of a deficit, the way the Republicans insist.
(You also cannot selectively tax your way out of a deficit by simply choosing to tax a small minority of people who are not politically convenient, as the Democrats insist.)
At the rate our economy is going, there is no excuse for the budget not to be balanced, other than the ignorance of an American people who personally benefit from the consistent overspending and figure they don't have to worry about leaving the mess to their children if they don't have children.
The insane spending is the primary problem. They are all spending way beyond our means. Both parties are all for big government, just different flavors of it with different priorities. We are spending our future now with no regard to the future consequences.
Too many people are on the bandwagon of getting "free" stuff, more government programs and that deficits don't really matter. And that magically the "rich" will be made to pay for it all.
And too many Republicans think Trump is "saving" the country with all this spending... Dead wrong. Just smoke and mirrors.
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In other words, they didn't do what the Republicans insisted they would do.
You cannot grow your way out of a deficit, the way the Republicans insist.
(You also cannot selectively tax your way out of a deficit by simply choosing to tax a small minority of people who are not politically convenient, as the Democrats insist.)
At the rate our economy is going, there is no excuse for the budget not to be balanced, other than the ignorance of an American people who personally benefit from the consistent overspending and figure they don't have to worry about leaving the mess to their children if they don't have children.
Well, there was a time when growing our way out of a deficit was an option. But not at the current levels of spending. No longer possible now.
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Tax revenue has grown at about the same pace for several years - long before the tax cuts. We are at record revenues right now. They've damn well nearly doubled the last 10 years.
This is not a tax cut issue.
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The insane spending is the primary problem. They are all spending way beyond our means. Both parties are all for big government, just different flavors of it with different priorities. We are spending our future now with no regard to the future consequences.
Too many people are on the bandwagon of getting "free" stuff, more government programs and that deficits don't really matter. And that magically the "rich" will be made to pay for it all.
And too many Republicans think Trump is "saving" the country with all this spending... Dead wrong. Just smoke and mirrors.
Yeah but who wins election by promising spending cuts? Especially with the primary drivers of our debt are popular programs like Medicare and Social Security? The path of least resistance says you just keep kicking the can down the road and hoping that the Can doesn’t get kicked for the last time while you are in charge. It easier to win elections promising free college, free healthcare, free housing, and even promise to spend big on military spending and worry about the cost at some other time
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Fishrrman's credo:
Reality is what it is. It is not what we believe it to be.
Balanced budgets?
Fiscal years with low/no deficits?
You ain't gonna live long enough to see those again.
And if you do, you're going to wish that you hadn't, considering the tumult that is going to occur beforehand.
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Spending is almost always the reason there are financial troubles. It is very rarely the money you make, but the money you spend.
The streets are filled with the corpses of high earners who overspend.