Let's get some facts straight about the debt and the deficit under President Trump:
* When President Trump took office in January 2017, the national debt stood at $19.93 trillion. As of last month, the debt was $20.85 trillion. That's an increase of $920 billion. In Obama's first four years in office, he raised the national debt by an average of $1.45 trillion per year, from $10.63 trillion in January 2009 to $16.43 trillion in January 2013, an increase of $5.8 trillion in four years. So if you weren't howling about the debt during Obama's first four years, you have no reason to be howling now.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2017/opds012017.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2018/opds022018.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2009/opds012009.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2013/opds012013.prn
* The CBO projects that the FY 2019 budget deficit will be $985 billion. $985 billion is a lot less than $1.45 trillion. As mentioned above, during Obama's first four years, he added an average of $1.45 trillion per year to the national debt.
* The budget deficit for FY 2017, i.e., most of Trump's first year in office, was $665 billion. During Obama's first five years in office, the budget deficit was $1.4 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $1 trillion, and $679 billion.
US Federal Deficit by Year - plus charts and analysis
* The 2017 deficit would have been smaller had it not been for the bipartisan two-year budget deal of 2015, which included a substantial hike in federal spending. Trump, as we should all recall, railed against that budget deal. Needless to say, Trump had no control over 2015-2017 spending, since that spending was set by the 2015 budget deal. In contrast, Obama signed most of the spending that was done during his first year because the Dem-controlled Congress stalled a large chunk of spending because of a Bush veto threat and because they knew that Obama would sign it when he took office, which he did.
The facts about the growth of spending under Obama
President Obama: The Biggest Government Spender In World History
A Brief History of President Obama’s Fiscal Record - House Budget Committee
* The 2015 two-year budget deal drove the deficit upward again, after sequestration and spending restraint had brought the deficit down to $438 billion by 2015. The 2015 budget deal contained many good provisions, but it also abandoned the spending restraint that had steadily reduced the deficit.
* The budget deficit for this fiscal year, FY 2018 (October 2017 through September 2018), is projected to be $874 billion, which will be lower than any of the deficits of Obama's first four years. But with the economy showing signs of robust growth, federal revenue might well end up being more than is now projected, which would, in turn, give us a lower deficit than the one now projected. We'll see.
* Most budget projections assume that the tax cuts under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will "cost" $1.5 trillion, ignoring the documented fact that every major tax cut since the early 1900s has been followed by a sizable increase in federal revenue.
The Facts About Tax Cuts, Revenue, and Growth
Setting the Record Straight About the Bush and Reagan Tax Cuts
* Democrats don't like to hear it, but it is a matter of recent memory and readily verifiable fact that the budget deal that Trump signed last month would have contained much lower spending levels if Congressional Democrats had not rejected spending cuts and had not insisted on domestic spending hikes in exchange for defense spending hikes.
https://nypost.com/2018/02/09/trump-signs-sweeping-two-year-budget-deal/
National debt grew more slowly in FY 2017 under Trump
Budget & Spending
Budget Deal Will Bring Back Trillion-Dollar Deficits and Could Ultimately Add More Than $1.5 Trillion to the Debt
* When President Trump took office in January 2017, the national debt stood at $19.93 trillion. As of last month, the debt was $20.85 trillion. That's an increase of $920 billion. In Obama's first four years in office, he raised the national debt by an average of $1.45 trillion per year, from $10.63 trillion in January 2009 to $16.43 trillion in January 2013, an increase of $5.8 trillion in four years. So if you weren't howling about the debt during Obama's first four years, you have no reason to be howling now.
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2017/opds012017.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2018/opds022018.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2009/opds012009.prn
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2013/opds012013.prn
* The CBO projects that the FY 2019 budget deficit will be $985 billion. $985 billion is a lot less than $1.45 trillion. As mentioned above, during Obama's first four years, he added an average of $1.45 trillion per year to the national debt.
* The budget deficit for FY 2017, i.e., most of Trump's first year in office, was $665 billion. During Obama's first five years in office, the budget deficit was $1.4 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $1 trillion, and $679 billion.
US Federal Deficit by Year - plus charts and analysis
* The 2017 deficit would have been smaller had it not been for the bipartisan two-year budget deal of 2015, which included a substantial hike in federal spending. Trump, as we should all recall, railed against that budget deal. Needless to say, Trump had no control over 2015-2017 spending, since that spending was set by the 2015 budget deal. In contrast, Obama signed most of the spending that was done during his first year because the Dem-controlled Congress stalled a large chunk of spending because of a Bush veto threat and because they knew that Obama would sign it when he took office, which he did.
The facts about the growth of spending under Obama
President Obama: The Biggest Government Spender In World History
A Brief History of President Obama’s Fiscal Record - House Budget Committee
* The 2015 two-year budget deal drove the deficit upward again, after sequestration and spending restraint had brought the deficit down to $438 billion by 2015. The 2015 budget deal contained many good provisions, but it also abandoned the spending restraint that had steadily reduced the deficit.
* The budget deficit for this fiscal year, FY 2018 (October 2017 through September 2018), is projected to be $874 billion, which will be lower than any of the deficits of Obama's first four years. But with the economy showing signs of robust growth, federal revenue might well end up being more than is now projected, which would, in turn, give us a lower deficit than the one now projected. We'll see.
* Most budget projections assume that the tax cuts under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will "cost" $1.5 trillion, ignoring the documented fact that every major tax cut since the early 1900s has been followed by a sizable increase in federal revenue.
The Facts About Tax Cuts, Revenue, and Growth
Setting the Record Straight About the Bush and Reagan Tax Cuts
* Democrats don't like to hear it, but it is a matter of recent memory and readily verifiable fact that the budget deal that Trump signed last month would have contained much lower spending levels if Congressional Democrats had not rejected spending cuts and had not insisted on domestic spending hikes in exchange for defense spending hikes.
https://nypost.com/2018/02/09/trump-signs-sweeping-two-year-budget-deal/
National debt grew more slowly in FY 2017 under Trump
Budget & Spending
Budget Deal Will Bring Back Trillion-Dollar Deficits and Could Ultimately Add More Than $1.5 Trillion to the Debt