How the recent tax cuts and budget deal jack up the national debt -- in one chart
Most U.S. lawmakers were focused Thursday on a temporary measure that aims to fund the federal government. But a few of them held a hearing aimed at highlighting the dangers of the burgeoning deficit.
One expert who testified at the House Financial Services Committee’s hearing emphasized how the recent tax cuts and the past year’s budget deal are helping to jack up the national debt, which is nearing an estimated $22 trillion.
Washington needs to make fixes to the Social Security and Medicare programs, but it also must “stop making the problem worse,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan watchdog organization.
“Recently we have had a tax bill that added $2.7 trillion to the debt — after growth, if you make it permanent and you account for interest payments,” she told the committee.
“Likewise, we’ve had an increase in spending that got not nearly as much attention, but if you make that permanent and account for interest, that’s another $2.4 trillion. So we have done a lot of digging in this past Congress.”
More at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-recent-tax-cuts-and-budget-deal-jack-up-the-national-debt-in-one-chart-2018-12-20
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