When Barack Obama was president and Republicans raised alarms over the mounting federal debt, there was always a question of whether they’d be just as willing to fight for fiscal restraint when a Republican was president. Tonight, we started to get an answer.
In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Trump made a mockery of debt reduction, and Republicans – who, under Obama, forced a showdown over the debt ceiling to fight for spending cuts – cheered on his speech anyway.
To be sure, Trump did make a few references to the debt and to cutting spending. He blasted Obama for adding “more new debt than nearly all other presidents combined.” And he cited his “hiring freeze on nonmilitary and nonessential federal workers.” But this is small change in the large scheme of things, and the rest of his speech, both by what he included and chose to omit, displayed a lack of seriousness about the debt problem.
Trump said he would propose reform that delivered “massive tax relief for the middle class” while promising a budget that “eliminates the defense sequester and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.” In addition, he said the budget would “also increase funding for our veterans.”
Now, all of those priorities are achievable and theoretically consistent with a broader debt reduction strategy. Republicans could, for instance, lower taxes on the middle class without reducing revenue by eliminating various loopholes and deductions. They could also pay for increases in spending for defense and veterans by cutting elsewhere in the budget. But Trump, in his speech, proposed none of these things.
He did not mention any loopholes or deductions that would be reduced or eliminated within tax reform. He made no mention of Medicare or Social Security, and his only reference to Medicaid was that, “we should give our great state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.” Even in discussing repealing and replacing Obamacare, he did not mention actual spending cuts — just changes to the nature of the entitlement that would mean fewer mandates and more choices for states and individuals.
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If Obama had made a speech like this, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would be leading the charge of House Republicans in attacking the lack of seriousness about the nation’s long-term debt problem. After all, it was Ryan who rose to national prominence with his detailed critiques of Obama’s budget chicanery and his efforts to push the party to embrace long-term entitlement reform. But on Tuesday night, Ryan stood behind Trump for the entire speech and enthusiastically applauded.
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New post: "Trump's speech makes mockery of debt reduction, and Republicans don't care" https://t.co/3PuaSPTEeL
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) March 1, 2017
25) Oh, and social conservative leaders, notice you were largely left out last night. Where was religious liberty?
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) March 1, 2017
Funny how when Obama spent us deeper in the hole by trillions of dollars, it was terrible. But when Trump adds even more trillions to the debt, it’s ok…because “he’s doing it right.”
At least that’s what his fans tell me. I still don’t know what “doing it right” means. Spending this country into insolvency is wrong, no matter who does it.
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