Deficit Attention Disorder

Mitch McConnell has voted to raise the debt ceiling 32 times in his 39 years in the Senate, yet he has remained mute during the current crisis. Why? Because he enjoys embarrassing a Democratic President in front of our Asian allies. And because he and his colleagues don’t want to draw attention to the source of our deficit.

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Simply put, deficits are the result of spending more than we earn. The US Government’s income comes from tax revenue that is then spent—mainly on the military and our social programs. Despite what the Republicans would have us believe, the problem is not that we are spending more than ever before. The problem is that the tax cuts enacted by Republicans under Presidents Regan, Bush and Trump have dried up large amounts of the income stream. Here’s a great piece that speaks to this point. For those who prefer a quick visual of the issue, this graph tells the story:

It’s true that spending during the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic are factors, but overall, (and despite the “runaway spending” rhetoric employed by Republicans like Congressman Kean) projected long-term primary spending has decreased, while projected long-term revenues have decreased even more. The United States does not have a high-spending problem; it has a low-tax problem.

It’s a fact that Republican tax cuts have disproportionately benefited the most well-off in our society. This chart (from a report published by the Congressional Budget Office in September 2022) makes that point clear:

Despite the evidence that it hurts average Americans, Republicans continually call for more tax cuts. Senator Ted Cruz just reintroduced legislation to make the Trump tax cuts permanent. And the Save and Grow Act, beloved by Congressman Kean, will eviscerate the Inflation Reduction Act’s recently-restored funding for the IRS while re-enabling tax cheats and adding another $118 billion to the deficit Republicans claim they want to reduce!

So next time Congressman Tom Kean Jr claims that “we need a budget that saves taxpayers money and puts us on a path to strengthen our fiscal standing,” let’s remind him that he is the problem, not the solution. House Republicans gleefully hold the economy hostage in order to slash assistance for low-income Americans and protect tax cuts for the wealthy. As usual, the rich take all the cookies and leave the rest of us to fight over who gets the crumbs.