It’s now official: the Trump-Ryan-McConnell tax cut plan for billionaires is bankrupting our country.
The United States Treasury Department said Monday that the federal budget deficit in February was significantly higher than a year ago, as is the budget deficit for the first five months of this budget year. According to the Treasury Department this year’s United States federal deficit will hit $873 billion, up a dangerous 31.3 percent from last year’s shortfall of $665.8 billion.Â
These numbers are based on President Donald Trump’s new budget projections which say that over the next decade, U.S. federal deficits will be approximately $7 trillion. When added to the existing federal debt of over $20 trillion, this level of projected deficit is not good news for America.
Obama had been working on decreasing the federal deficit but under Trump the government has reversed course and decided to let America’s debt soar while cutting taxes on the super-rich and big multi-national corporations.  The deficit picture is of great concern now because of the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts in the tax bill that was passed in December.
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Trump and the Republican leaders in Congress have told Americans that the excessive tax cuts on billionaires will “pay for themselves over time” by boosting economic growth because an expanding U.S. economy would supposedly generate more than enough tax revenues to offset the unneeded tax cuts.
Almost every economist and budget expert in America has disagreed with this overly optimistic view of future growth, however. They say the growth projections are not only WAY too optimistic but also the Republicans in Washington are increasing spending. (Such as the extra $60 or $70 billion they want to give to the Pentagon this year alone.)
So here is the Republican’s evil plan, which Paul Ryan does not even deny:
- They plan to increase the annual deficit to over $1 trillion per year by cutting taxes on billionaires and big corporations,
- They plan to continue to spend more on the U.S. military,
- They will then say that they have to cut back spending on Medicare, Medicaid and even Social Security because American can’t afford these “entitlements” due to the excessive deficit.
What Ryan and Trump are ignoring is the fact that Medicare and Social Security are not “entitlements” but rather an essential part of the U.S. safety net. Without these programs tens of millions of seniors and disabled Americans will die. The so-called “entitlements” have been paid for with payroll taxes over the careers of every working American.
The 2018 midterm elections — as well as today’s special congressional election in Pennsylvania — have become partially a referendum on the sinister Republican plan to bankrupt the U.S. government. By doing this, they believe they can justify their cuts to the social programs that help keep so many Americans alive. Let’s hope that American voters see through this plot and vote in new leaders in Washington.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
