Deficit Doves

Ken AshfordClass Warfare, Corporate Greed, Economy & Jobs & Deficit, Occupy Wall StreetLeave a Comment

Remember when Republicans cared about the deficit?  No longer:

The federal deficit hit $895 billion in the first 11 months of fiscal 2018, an increase of $222 billion, or 32 percent, over the same period the previous year, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The nonpartisan CBO reported that the central drivers of the increasing deficit were the Republican tax law and the bipartisan agreement to increase spending. As a result, revenue only rose 1 percent, failing to keep up with a 7 percent surge in spending, it added.

Revenue from individual and payroll taxes was up some $105 billion, or 4 percent, while corporate taxes fell $71 billion, or 30 percent.

The August statistics were somewhat inflated, however, due to a timing shift for certain payments, putting the deficit measure through August slightly out of sync with the previous year, the CBO noted. Had it not been for the timing shift, the deficit would have increased $154 billion instead of $222 billion.

Earlier analysis from CBO projected that deficits would near $1 trillion in 2019 and surpass that amount the following year.

This is absurd.  Deficits should go up during times of economic strife and recovery, because you are borrowing money.  But not during good times economically.

Why don’t Republicans care?  Because they are benefiting from the tax cuts which cause the deficit.  Plus, it gives them an excuse to shut down federal programs.