Day 1,009: Federal debt continues to soar under Trump, even amid economic boom
Nearly $1 trillion deficit in 2019 fiscal year alone.
While campaigning, Donald Trump made the ridiculous promise that he would eliminate the national debt if elected.
Well, he was elected and the debt continues to soar.
The 2019 fiscal year saw a deficit of $984 billion, the biggest in seven years. That’s a 26% increase compared to 2018. While strong economic figures would tend to cause a reduction in the deficit — and possibly even allow for a surplus — Trump’s policies have caused annual deficits to swell.
Annual deficits have nearly doubled under President Donald Trump’s tenure notwithstanding an unemployment rate at multidecade lows and better earnings figures. Deficits usually shrink during times of economic growth as higher incomes and Wall Street profits buoy Treasury coffers, while automatic spending on items like food stamps decline.
Two big bipartisan spending bills, combined with the administration’s landmark tax cuts, however, have defied the typical trends and instead aggravated deficits. The Congressional Budget Office projects the trillion-dollar deficit could come as soon as fiscal 2020.
The last time the deficit was this high, the country was coming out of the shadow of the recession. During difficult economic times, government spending had to remain high and taxes low to keep certain institutions afloat. There’s no real reason for the deficit to be anywhere nearly as high as it now while economic indicators are strong. Handing out absurd tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest Americans only exacerbated the problem.
Republicans, who lamented deficits under Barack Obama, have remained largely silent since Trump has been in office. That’s true as the deficit largely shrunk yearly under Obama and has continued to sharply rise under Trump.
The national debt now sits around $23 trillion. Under Trump it’ll continue to rise, no matter what cockamamie campaign promise he shouted.
1,009 days in, 453 to go
Follow us on Twitter at @TrumpTimer
