President Donald Trump’s proposed budget couldn’t be more different from what’s became the new normal during the Obama years.
By the end of 2016, the total US national debt stood at an astonishing $19,976,826,951,047. That means Obama nearly doubled the national debt under his administration.
And what do we have to show for all that debt? Not much – except the $375 billion in interest on the national debt we’ve paid so far in fiscal year 2017 alone!
Deficits skyrocketed so much under Barack Obama that his smallest deficit on record ($552 billion in 2016) was still larger than George W. Bush’s largest ($454.8 billion deficit during his own last year in office).
All of that is about to change in Trump’s budget.
President Trump’s budget doesn’t solve the deficit, though it makes a significant dent, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new report Thursday, saying that his deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education would save an additional $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
Most of the savings would come after 2020, when those entitlement spending cuts really bite.
But he still never reaches balance, the CBO said, undercutting the White House’s claims that the president’s 2018 blueprint — his first budget — would solve the sea of red ink within a decade.
Deficits would peak at 3.6 percent of gross domestic product this year, and begin an uneven decline, falling to 2.6 percent at the end of the 10-year budget window. That would still mean a $720 billion deficit in 2027, not the small surplus Mr. Trump has claimed — but it’s far better than the $1.5 trillion deficit that would result if nothing changes.
Debt held by the public, which under current law is expected to ballon to 91 percent, will instead be at 80 percent and falling, the CBO said.
H/T Washington Times
So that’s a great start – but we’ll still have a deficit.
Does that mean that more cuts will be proposed? If the administration wants to make good on their promise to balance the budget, they don’t have much of a choice.
Does government spending need to be cut more? Share your thoughts below! And be sure to share this story with your friends on Facebook!
