The federal deficit ballooned at start of new fiscal year, up 77 percent from a year before

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Damian Paletta March 5 at 2:57 PM

The federal budget deficit ballooned rapidly in the first four months of the fiscal year amid falling tax revenue and higher spending, the Treasury Department said Tuesday, posing a new challenge for the White House and Congress and they prepare for a number of budget battles.

The deficit grew 77 percent in the first four months of fiscal year 2019 compared with the same period one year before, Treasury said. The total deficit for the four month period was $310 billion, Treasury said, up from $176 billion for the same period one year earlier.

“It’s big tax cuts combined with big increases in spending when they already had big deficits,” said former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “So guess what, it’s craziness!”

When Republicans seized control of the House of Representatives during the Obama administration, lawmakers and White House officials embarked on a number of strained negotiations to try and reduce the gap between spending and tax revenue. During the Trump administration, there have not been any similar discussions, and Trump has largely pushed for an agenda of tax cuts and spending increases that had grown the deficit markedly.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-federal-deficit-ballooned-at-start-of-new-fiscal-year-up-77-percent-from-a-year-before/2019/03/05/ff8d31f6-3f75-11e9-9361-301ffb5bd5e6_story.html

[BostonBlue]

1. Yet the myth of GOP "fiscal responsibility" persists

boggles the mind

[democratisphere]

8. Truth is not truth according to redumbliCONS.

[theophilus]

2. All is going according to plan. The evil, evil, Republicans will start screaming to cut

SS, Medicare, Medicaid and every other good thing in the budget that helps the regular worker, etc. They can't wait. Democrats need to keep sounding the alarm.

[Hulk]

3. Just keep cutting those taxes....fast, fast, faster!!

Once we reach the point where low income and middle income tax payers are paying a 1% lower tax rate (so they can be part of this tax reducing lunacy), and the top tiers will also be paying at the same rate....we can all celebrate. Our country will be bankrupt, and we can start to look at ways to cut spending, because you HAVE TO! We can't touch the military spending, cause then you don't "love our soldiers"...so we go after EVERYTHING ELSE....everything! We worry about Social Security and Medicare, but these bat shit crazy fools are going to need to cut it all.

You see....government IS the enemy. Government, as bat shit crazy cult leader, ronnie raygun once said, "government IS the problem". These bat shit crazies internalize that. They don't even bother to think about it. They accept it, and they are all for doing away with taxes....but we'll just keep that military spending up there so it eats up at least 50+% of the total budget from here on. In fact, once they are done cutting discretionary spending, the military budget will probably eat up more like 75% of our budget.

There....Keep amuriKKKa great. We are going down the toilet so fast. Never thought it would be possible in just one half a term. But then again, he has the repuKKKe cowards licking his ass all the way through Crazyville.

[Joe Nation]

4. At least those Millionaires and Billionaires don't have to suffer

I on the other hand, had to have another $200 dollars deducted from my paycheck twice a month so that I can pay my federal taxes next year. I hope that their private jets have mechanical issues somewhere over the Pacific.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Who's going to pay for it? Mexico! NT

[not fooled]

6. Dem candidates for pres

should include repealing the tax scam among their policy positions.

Blue state voters who got (deliberately) slammed by the SALT cap should be particularly adamant about this.

[SWBTATTReg]

7. Tax Scam 101 continues against the American people. Man, we sure are winning! (sarcasm...nt

[DemoTex]

9. Thank goodness the Democrats now control the purse strings!

Build the wall!

[BlueIdaho]

10. It's Reagan's fantasy rose colored economy all over again.

Just putting America’s pretend growth on the tab only guarantees a future financial disaster for Democrats to fix... again...

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. "It remains unclear if Trump fully understands how the federal debt works"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/01/it-remains-unclear-if-trump-fully-understands-how-federal-debt-works/

That's being generous to him. More accurate would be "there is no indication that Trump understands at all how the federal debt works".

Bob Woodward book: Gary Cohn was 'astounded at Trump's lack of basic understanding' about the federal debt

During a meeting with his top economic adviser, President Donald Trump suggested that since interest rates were going up, the US government should simply borrow massive amounts of money.

That's according to Bob Woodward's new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House."

When Gary Cohn explained that increasing borrowing would push up the federal deficit, Trump suggested simply printing more money to pay off the debt.

Cohn explained that that could be seriously harmful to the US's fiscal and economic situation, but Trump did not appear to understand, the book says.

[groundloop]

12. The cycle continues.... let a Democrat fix it so a repub can break it all over again

[oldsoftie]

13. Gee, Trump cant keep his promise to pay off the debt in 8 yrs with a deficit like this!!

[BlueWI]

14. Democrats have been better fiscal managers for decades.

Ads publicizing this history in purple states would be a great addition to the campaign.

[SunSeeker]

15. Gee, I guess Trump's $1.5 Trillion tax cut for the rich didn't pay for itself!

[scipan]

16. you got that right

Revenue down 2%, from corporations down a breathtaking 25%

[Yavin4]

17. And the Tea Party is organizing a march as we speak

because they're just average Americans really concerned about the deficit and debt, and no, they're not racist because a Black man is president. They're marching because of fiscal irresponsibility by Washington, and to prove that the Tea Party has planned a major march on Washington this weekend to protest the hike in federal spending!