Essential Economics for Politicians

If Not for Republican Policies, the Federal Government Would Be Running a Surplus

Introduction In 2000, the federal government ran a surplus of $236 billion. The next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected that over the following ten years, the accumulated surplus would add up to $5.6 trillion – $889 billion in 2011 alone.
For the recently-completed fiscal year, 2018, the federal government ran a deficit of $779 billion.

What contributed to the $779 billion deficit in 2018?
• Bush Tax Cuts: $488 billion
• Trump Tax Cuts: $164 billion
• Direct costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: $127 billion
• Base defense increases: $156 billion

Simply put, without the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enormous post-9/11 defense buildup, and several rounds of costly, regressive tax cuts, the federal budget would not be $779 billion in deficit, but rather $156 billion in surplus.

The story of how the federal government turned projected surpluses into deficits is one of two decades’ worth of Republican policies that amounted to a massive transfer of wealth from working families and middle-class Americans to the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations in the country. Even worse, these were policies that put our armed forces in the middle of immutable quagmires overseas that have left thousands of American troops – and thousands of Iraqi, Afghani, and other civilians – dead, and thousands more dealing with injuries for the rest of their lives. In short, the last 20 years of federal policymaking have been a disaster for our economy, for our health, and for our standard of living.

Despite 40 years of Republican rhetoric on how tax cuts “pay for themselves” through increased economic growth, there has been one consistent problem: It is not true.

Conclusion
Despite longstanding Republican protestations that theirs is the party of “fiscal responsibility,” two Republican policies alone – enormous, regressive tax cuts and the massive post-2001 defense buildup – served to turn what would otherwise be a $156 billion surplus in 2018 into a $779 billion deficit. Counterfactually, if these policies were never enacted – or if they were paid for with new revenues instead of added to the national debt – the debt would not be equivalent to nearly 80 percent of the economy, but rather 31 percent, and on a downward path.


https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GOP Policies Caused the Deficit REPORT 10-15-18.pdf
 
If Not for Republican Policies, the Federal Government Would Be Running a Surplus

Introduction In 2000, the federal government ran a surplus of $236 billion. The next year, the Congressional Budget Office projected that over the following ten years, the accumulated surplus would add up to $5.6 trillion – $889 billion in 2011 alone.
For the recently-completed fiscal year, 2018, the federal government ran a deficit of $779 billion.

What contributed to the $779 billion deficit in 2018?
• Bush Tax Cuts: $488 billion
• Trump Tax Cuts: $164 billion
• Direct costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: $127 billion
• Base defense increases: $156 billion

Simply put, without the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enormous post-9/11 defense buildup, and several rounds of costly, regressive tax cuts, the federal budget would not be $779 billion in deficit, but rather $156 billion in surplus.

The story of how the federal government turned projected surpluses into deficits is one of two decades’ worth of Republican policies that amounted to a massive transfer of wealth from working families and middle-class Americans to the wealthiest individuals and largest corporations in the country. Even worse, these were policies that put our armed forces in the middle of immutable quagmires overseas that have left thousands of American troops – and thousands of Iraqi, Afghani, and other civilians – dead, and thousands more dealing with injuries for the rest of their lives. In short, the last 20 years of federal policymaking have been a disaster for our economy, for our health, and for our standard of living.

Despite 40 years of Republican rhetoric on how tax cuts “pay for themselves” through increased economic growth, there has been one consistent problem: It is not true.

Conclusion
Despite longstanding Republican protestations that theirs is the party of “fiscal responsibility,” two Republican policies alone – enormous, regressive tax cuts and the massive post-2001 defense buildup – served to turn what would otherwise be a $156 billion surplus in 2018 into a $779 billion deficit. Counterfactually, if these policies were never enacted – or if they were paid for with new revenues instead of added to the national debt – the debt would not be equivalent to nearly 80 percent of the economy, but rather 31 percent, and on a downward path.


https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GOP Policies Caused the Deficit REPORT 10-15-18.pdf
Sucker! The Republican Congress was responsible for the surplus while slick willy and Treasury Secretary Bob Ruben were bailing the banks out of Mexican real estate investments during the Tequila Crisis. Bush and Obama made trillion dollar deficits fashionable. Make sure you know what your sources are cherry picking Bootsie.
 
Sucker! The Republican Congress was responsible for the surplus while slick willy and Treasury Secretary Bob Ruben were bailing the banks out of Mexican real estate investments during the Tequila Crisis. Bush and Obama made trillion dollar deficits fashionable. Make sure you know what your sources are cherry picking Bootsie.
I'm sure that's what you were told to believe.
 
mrz021919dAPR20190219034518.jpg
 
Sucker! The Republican Congress was responsible for the surplus while slick willy and Treasury Secretary Bob Ruben were bailing the banks out of Mexican real estate investments during the Tequila Crisis. Bush and Obama made trillion dollar deficits fashionable. Make sure you know what your sources are cherry picking Bootsie.

You consider the following to be cherry picking?

What contributed to the $779 billion deficit in 2018?
• Bush Tax Cuts: $488 billion
• Trump Tax Cuts: $164 billion
• Direct costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: $127 billion
• Base defense increases: $156 billion

Those are real numbers and they are big numbers and they are they are they result of Republican Policies.
 
You consider the following to be cherry picking?

What contributed to the $779 billion deficit in 2018?
• Bush Tax Cuts: $488 billion
• Trump Tax Cuts: $164 billion
• Direct costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: $127 billion
• Base defense increases: $156 billion

Those are real numbers and they are big numbers and they are they are they result of Republican Policies.
1. Why didn't Obama stop the tax cuts and the wars?
2. Why couldn't you beat a buffoon like Trump?
3. Did you forget Obama care?
 
Back
Top