Republicans Whine About Biden, But It Was Trump Who Blew Up The Debt

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Last updated on February 18th, 2021 at 01:59 am

Donald Trump oversaw the third-biggest debt increase in US history, and it is projected to hurt the economy for generations.

ProPublica reported:

The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.

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The combination of Trump’s 2017 tax cut and the lack of any serious spending restraint helped both the deficit and the debt soar. So when the once-in-a-lifetime viral disaster slammed our country, and we threw more than $3 trillion into COVID-19-related stimulus, there was no longer any margin for error.

The debt exploded by $7.8 trillion under Trump, and the growth was fueled by reckless spending by the former president and congressional Republicans.

Before COVID, Trump had grown the national debt by 50%. Trump and the Republicans passed an expensive tax cut for the wealthy and corporations that did not pay for itself. The tax cut also did not grow the economy or raise wages.

What it did do was make rich people richer and blow a hole in the national debt that it will take generations to fix.

Over the next few weeks, as President Biden’s stimulus plan is debated in Congress, Republicans will fearmonger and whine about the debt. Every American should remind these same Republicans that they, along with Donald Trump, have weakened the economy for generations with excessive spending and tax cuts for the rich that never paid for themselves.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association