The Republican dominated Congress and Donald Trump have been working together to suck money out of the middle class and funnel it to the wealthy and large corporations. The president suggested that if there was not enough money, the Treasury should just print more. That would be something like finding a money tree in the backyard. Under this POTUS, the deficit just exploded to a six-year-high.
Last week the Dow dropped over 1,000 points, then it struggled back upward. Now, we find that Trump has managed to spend until the country has its largest deficit in years — nearly one trillion dollars, $779 billion to be exact.
The Treasury Department’s data revealed that Trump jumped the deficit 17 percent in just one year, according to The Final Monthly Treasury Statement. Now, the Treasury has anticipated an $100 trillion deficit this fiscal year, which started on October 1.
The country brought in about the same amount as the previous year, even though the economy has been going gangbusters and the unemployment rate has plummeted. What that meant was the deficits shot up by a factor of six or $4.1 trillion.
The commander-in-chief promised people who came to his 2016 presidential campaign rallies that he would disappear the debt within eight years. Yet, in the first fiscal year that Trump was at the helm, the national debt went from $20 trillion to approximately $21.5 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the Republican-led Congress, which has claimed it was the financially responsible party, was at fault, according to The New York Times. He said the Republicans balked at his dramatic budget cuts.
‘Going forward the President’s economic policies that have stimulated strong economic growth, combined with proposals to cut wasteful spending, will lead America toward a sustainable financial path.’
White House Budget Chief Mick Mulvaney said, according to CNN:Â
‘The President is very much aware of the realities presented by our national debt. America’s booming economy will create increased government revenues — an important step toward long-term fiscal sustainability.’
President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Maya MacGuineas had this to say from the viewpoint of her organization as a budget watchdog:
‘It’s an unsustainable fiscal course that will lead us to debt overtaking the size of the entire economy in as soon as a decade, and not long after topping all-time highs as a share of the economy not seen since World War II.’
She noted that the interest on this huge debt will surpass nearly double the entire Departments of Homeland Security and Transportation together:
‘Interest on the debt rose by $62 billion over the previous year to $325 billion, which amounts to twice as much as we spend on the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security combined. Under current projections, annual interest payments on the debt could top $1 trillion by 2030.’
The impact of growing debt levels was that interest payment have spiked. MacGuineas summed it up:
‘Interest on the debt rose by $62 billion over the previous year to $325 billion, which amounts to twice as much as we spend on the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security combined. Under current projections, annual interest payments on the debt could top $1 trillion by 2030.’
Senior Vice President of the Bipartisan Policy Center William Hoagland noted:
‘Over the course of the next year, new spending priorities will dig the hole deeper. Damage from unforeseen natural disasters such as hurricanes will also require federal assistance and add to the growing deficit.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
