Opinion by
Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
Today at 10:00 a.m. EDT
Republican senators have repeatedly refused to raise the debt limit because, they say, the GOP will not “empower” a spending spree. This is poppycock.
The debt ceiling increase is necessary to pay for what lawmakers — including Republicans — previously decided to spend. This includes the Republicans’ $2 trillion tax cut and increased spending during the prior administration. Indeed, as Steven Rattner, “car czar” in the Obama administration, wrote recently, the debt explosion has happened primarily under GOP presidents. “The ratio of debt to the overall size of the economy (the ‘debt to GDP ratio,’ in the nomenclature) was at a post-World War II low in 1974, at 22%,” he wrote. “It took 10 years for that figure to grow to 32%, 6 years to increase to 42% and 19 years to reach 52%.” He also noted that, “Less than two years ago, the ratio was 80%; today, after briefly passing 100%, it stands at 98%.”
The numbers tell a story quite at odds with Republicans’ professed concern about fiscal sobriety. “Five of the six presidents who incurred the most debt relative to the size of the economy in the past 60 years were Republicans,” Rattner wrote. Every president has challenges or agenda ideas that result in new spending, but GOP presidents such as Donald Trump have paired spending hikes with tax cuts. The result is a gusher of red ink. Remarkably, according to Rattner, “of the 57 percentage point increase in the debt to GDP ratio since 1960, 52 percentage points — all but five percentage points — were incurred with a Republican in the White House.”
In 2017, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) insisted the Trump tax cuts would pay for themselves. By the spring of 2018, it was evident the debt was exploding. The Congressional Budget Office reported, “The largest effects on GDP over the decade stem from the tax act. In CBO’s projections, it boosts the level of real GDP by an average of 0.7 percent and nonfarm payroll employment by an average of 1.1 million jobs over the 2018–2028 period.” The GOP president and GOP Senate cared little about the debt.
To recap: Republicans insisted their 2017 tax cut wouldn’t increase the debt; when it did, they kept on spending and refused to adjust the tax giveaway. Now, they refuse to increase the borrowing authority to pay for the deficits for which they are primarily responsible.
Democrats are right to point out the gross recklessness of Republicans as they court default and the ensuing economic catastrophe. Ideally, Democrats should do away with the requirement to raise the ceiling (or create another filibuster exception.) However, they should also remind voters that the United States accumulated this debt in part because of a mammoth tax cut that did little to alter the trajectory of growth or job creation and widened inequality.
Going forward, Democrats promise to pay for at least some of the Build Back Better Agenda and to fund the Internal Revenue Service to compel scofflaws to pay what they owe. That’s relatively “conservative” compared with the GOP’s massive tax cuts, refusal to enforce existing tax laws and threatened default. Neither party has much to brag about, but at least Democrats aren’t using the full faith and credit of the United States for the sake of future campaign ads.
Jennifer Rubin
Columnist
Today at 10:00 a.m. EDT
Republican senators have repeatedly refused to raise the debt limit because, they say, the GOP will not “empower” a spending spree. This is poppycock.
The debt ceiling increase is necessary to pay for what lawmakers — including Republicans — previously decided to spend. This includes the Republicans’ $2 trillion tax cut and increased spending during the prior administration. Indeed, as Steven Rattner, “car czar” in the Obama administration, wrote recently, the debt explosion has happened primarily under GOP presidents. “The ratio of debt to the overall size of the economy (the ‘debt to GDP ratio,’ in the nomenclature) was at a post-World War II low in 1974, at 22%,” he wrote. “It took 10 years for that figure to grow to 32%, 6 years to increase to 42% and 19 years to reach 52%.” He also noted that, “Less than two years ago, the ratio was 80%; today, after briefly passing 100%, it stands at 98%.”
The numbers tell a story quite at odds with Republicans’ professed concern about fiscal sobriety. “Five of the six presidents who incurred the most debt relative to the size of the economy in the past 60 years were Republicans,” Rattner wrote. Every president has challenges or agenda ideas that result in new spending, but GOP presidents such as Donald Trump have paired spending hikes with tax cuts. The result is a gusher of red ink. Remarkably, according to Rattner, “of the 57 percentage point increase in the debt to GDP ratio since 1960, 52 percentage points — all but five percentage points — were incurred with a Republican in the White House.”
In 2017, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) insisted the Trump tax cuts would pay for themselves. By the spring of 2018, it was evident the debt was exploding. The Congressional Budget Office reported, “The largest effects on GDP over the decade stem from the tax act. In CBO’s projections, it boosts the level of real GDP by an average of 0.7 percent and nonfarm payroll employment by an average of 1.1 million jobs over the 2018–2028 period.” The GOP president and GOP Senate cared little about the debt.
To recap: Republicans insisted their 2017 tax cut wouldn’t increase the debt; when it did, they kept on spending and refused to adjust the tax giveaway. Now, they refuse to increase the borrowing authority to pay for the deficits for which they are primarily responsible.
Democrats are right to point out the gross recklessness of Republicans as they court default and the ensuing economic catastrophe. Ideally, Democrats should do away with the requirement to raise the ceiling (or create another filibuster exception.) However, they should also remind voters that the United States accumulated this debt in part because of a mammoth tax cut that did little to alter the trajectory of growth or job creation and widened inequality.
Going forward, Democrats promise to pay for at least some of the Build Back Better Agenda and to fund the Internal Revenue Service to compel scofflaws to pay what they owe. That’s relatively “conservative” compared with the GOP’s massive tax cuts, refusal to enforce existing tax laws and threatened default. Neither party has much to brag about, but at least Democrats aren’t using the full faith and credit of the United States for the sake of future campaign ads.
