Why does neither party care about the deficit?

[Open Source Intelligence]

The past two presidents have presided over deficits of over $1 trillion, resulting in the debt-to-GDP ratio well exceeding 100%. Do we really need to be borrowing this much when the economy is as good as it is?

Is it because the national debt is a long-term problem while spending benefits lawmakers in the short run?

It's Democratic Party par for the course. They don't care if the country in 20 years goes into Depression as long as they get their programs.

What's changed is the Republican Party and that's mostly due to Trump. Trump doesn't care if the country in 20 years goes into Depression.

[Open Source Intelligence]

As I said above, that's only true as long as the U.S $ remains the world reserve currency/petrodollar.

If we're ever in a situation where America stops being the world reserve currency, we're going to be killing each other over cans of beans, so it won't really matter anyway.

Not really I could imagine realistic scenarios where USA stopped being the world’s reserve currency, and in most of them USA would still be functional and a first world country. But you’re right the existing deficit would be completely irrelevant.

A important point is that if the dollars stopped being the world reserve currency, the American existing  debt would still be in dollars, and as such it would fall together with value of the dollars.

It was absolutely Jean-Claude Trichet's goal in my opinion when he ran the European Central Bank for the euro to become equal to and eventually displace the dollar as reserve currency.

[Open Source Intelligence]

Nobody except Republicans in Congress wants to cut Social Security, it's the most popular and successful government program the United States has ever created.

 Cutting the bloated U.S. military never gains much political traction.

 Cutting Medicare and Medicaid would just make us spend more on expensive private healthcare that would inevitably crumble because a comprehensive private healthcare system is an impossibility.

 After that there isn't much to cut.

Right. But the problem is that taxes are too low. Try telling THAT to the American public though.

My property taxes have gone up 50% in 3 years. That's not a federal thing either, I live in one of the most conservative states east of the Mississippi River.