Why don't Republicans care about the deficit anymore?

[Pericles]

Deficit was always just a proxy for immigration. If we weren't taking in so many economic migrants, the deficit wouldn't be as high. If we didn't spend as much money on welfare, economic migrants would come here less.

Can't you talk about any other issue for once?!

[Badger]

They never cared to begin with. Literally the same exact thing happens over and over.

- Democrat is president (Carter, Clinton, Obama)
- Republicans pretend to care about deficit, accuse Democrat of being a deficit buster despite some of them actually lowering it, media treats this as principled good faith concern
- Republican is president (Reagan, Bush, Trump)
- Republicans explode the deficit with unpaid for tax cuts and/or wars, media is silent

Rinse and repeat.

And it's funny people talk about how Jeff Flake shouldn't "abandon his beliefs on tax cuts just because he's anti-Trump." The guy's claim to fame was being a "deficit hawk", yet he voted for a deficit busting tax scam because he's a partisan hack. He has zero principles.

[Badger]

Also, short answer: Obama left office.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Reminder: GOP voters/rank and file members were fine with the tax bill earlier this year because they thought the cuts would stimulate growth that would (in the long run) create enough revenue to stave off the surplus.

I think pretty much everybody else knew this was not going to happen, but if you suspend disbelief and assume the growth will lead to expansion/revenue, it's ideologically consistent with being a deficit hawk to support this bill.

And if I assume seagulls will start sh**tting one hundred dollar bills once Saddam Hussein is toppled, the Iraq War was paid for as well.

There's an image it will be difficult to unsee.

[ProudModerate2]

Another staggering look at what the national debt and the interest on it, will do to future budgets:




http://www.crfb.org/blogs/telling-whole-story-interest-and-long-term-debt

[Sumner 1868]

The problem with attacking the GOP on debt is that it'll come back to bite Democrats every time they propose a initiative that requires public spending - now matter how small the amount.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

They care more about tax cuts than new jobs, Obama wanted renewable green jobs, Boehner blocked him at every step

[President Johnson]

Wait - they ever did in recent decades? The Gipper increased the deficit by 180% over his eight years in office. It were tax and spend liberals Bill Clinton and Barack Obama who lowered the deficit; the first one even gave us a surplus, which was later turned into a huge deficit under Dubya who was a Republican.

But the GOP is really doing well selling to certain voter groups that they are "fiscally responsible" while Democrats are the opposite. It's the same with the economy, where the Republicans get higher ratings in polls although every statistic shows that the economy does better under Democratic administrations and that their policies are better able to create a system that works for everyone.

[Indy Texas]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

[Indy Texas]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

Wat. Simpson-Bowles didn't make it out of its committee because it fell short if the designated super-majority needed. Seven people voted against it, four of whom were left leaning. Painting it as a party-line vote is wrong or dishonest

[Indy Texas]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

Wat. Simpson-Bowles didn't make it out of its committee because it fell short if the designated super-majority needed. Seven people voted against it, four of whom were left leaning. Painting it as a party-line vote is wrong or dishonest

The entire package was basically everything Republicans wanted and nothing Democrats wanted.

If Republicans were an intellectually honest party, they would have unanimously voted for it.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Social Security cap need to be raised on rich, and the Dems will do it this time under reconciliation under Trump and then under a Dem president.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

Uh, I used the terms correctly. Bush handed Obama a debt of nearly $10 Trillion and it was around $19 Trillion when Obama left office. That's a near-doubling, and it does put into question whether Obama really cared.

[Indy Texas]

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

Uh, I used the terms correctly. Bush handed Obama a debt of nearly $10 Trillion and it was around $19 Trillion when Obama left office. That's a near-doubling, and it does put into question whether Obama really cared.

I asked a question about how Republicans feel about the deficit, and you keep responding by talking to me about Obama and the national debt.

[RINO Tom]

Deficit was always just a proxy for immigration. If we weren't taking in so many economic migrants, the deficit wouldn't be as high. If we didn't spend as much money on welfare, economic migrants would come here less.

Can't you talk about any other issue for once?!

LOL, seriously.  Completely deranged.

[HisGrace]

Because their guy is in. Next question.

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

Uh, I used the terms correctly. Bush handed Obama a debt of nearly $10 Trillion and it was around $19 Trillion when Obama left office. That's a near-doubling, and it does put into question whether Obama really cared.

I asked a question about how Republicans feel about the deficit, and you keep responding by talking to me about Obama and the national debt.

You're being cute. The only reason the deficit matters is that it adds to that debt. I'm not going to give Obama a gold star because he ran a smaller deficit in his last year in office than the first, when in the middle he ran some of the biggest deficits in history and added more to debt than any president in modern history. It'd be like gaining 50 pounds a year for 7 years, then only gaining five pounds the next year, and then citing that as evidence that I don't have a weight problem. When arguments like this are made it's essentially treating the deficit in one year as more significant than the overall debt, which doesn't make any sense if you actually understand the distinction.

Trying to hold Obama up as a paragon of fiscal responsibility is a tenuous argument. Just stick with Clinton on that one.

[ProudModerate2]

In regards to the deficits during the Obama years.
Those deficits were going to be there regardless of who was president.
The point was previously made, that we experienced a very harsh recession, and it is completely normal for governments to spend in bad times to boost the overall economy (and to add to the deficit problem, there is also a drop in revenues). And remember, the problem was not only here in the US, but around the world.

The economy has now (for the most part) recovered, yet with trump and the GOP, the deficits are scheduled to increase/skyrocket. This is not what government should do during good/better times.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Because usually only the party out of power cares about the deficit. In recent times, the only Republican President to take it even somewhat seriously while in office was George HW Bush.

[Nyvin]

Because their guy is in. Next question.

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

Uh, I used the terms correctly. Bush handed Obama a debt of nearly $10 Trillion and it was around $19 Trillion when Obama left office. That's a near-doubling, and it does put into question whether Obama really cared.

I asked a question about how Republicans feel about the deficit, and you keep responding by talking to me about Obama and the national debt.

You're being cute. The only reason the deficit matters is that it adds to that debt. I'm not going to give Obama a gold star because he ran a smaller deficit in his last year in office than the first, when in the middle he ran some of the biggest deficits in history and added more to debt than any president in modern history. It'd be like gaining 50 pounds a year for 7 years, then only gaining five pounds the next year, and then citing that as evidence that I don't have a weight problem. When arguments like this are made it's essentially treating the deficit in one year as more significant than the overall debt, which doesn't make any sense if you actually understand the distinction.

Trying to hold Obama up as a paragon of fiscal responsibility is a tenuous argument. Just stick with Clinton on that one.

The largest deficits in history were the first two years Obama was in office.   Those deficits would've been there with ANY president, regardless of what they did.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Most of debt comes from Social Security and trade. Trump reneged on his promise to have Mexico pay for wall and taxes need to raised on rich to increase the cap of 150 K on rich folks, on SSA. Since 2010, Boehner and Ryan refused to raise any taxes on rich; although, with a Democratic Congress, Reagan raised the cap and came up with immigration reform

[Orser67]

The big turning point was the 1980 campaign, when Republicans abandoned old-fashioned fiscal conservatism (where a balanced budget was the chief goal) for supply-side economics (where cutting taxes was the chief goal). George H. W. Bush does deserve some credit for breaking his no tax hike pledge, though.

[Saint Milei]

Because their guy is in. Next question.

Both parties only care about the deficit/debt when they don't hold the Presidency. The only exception to this in modern history is Bill Clinton.

Obama formed an entire special commission on reducing the deficit as president. He begged the GOP to sign on to it and they refused. Did you forget about Simpson-Bowles?

I'm not that familiar with it but given that our debt nearly doubled during Obama's 8 years I doubt Obama really cared that much.

You are confusing deficit and the national debt, so I agree that you're "not that familiar with it" and probably shouldn't be making dishonest statements like this.

Did you forget about a little thing called the biggest financial crisis in 80 years that occurred right before Obama became president? You seriously don't understand why governments have to spend more money when those things happen?

Uh, I used the terms correctly. Bush handed Obama a debt of nearly $10 Trillion and it was around $19 Trillion when Obama left office. That's a near-doubling, and it does put into question whether Obama really cared.

I asked a question about how Republicans feel about the deficit, and you keep responding by talking to me about Obama and the national debt.

You're being cute. The only reason the deficit matters is that it adds to that debt. I'm not going to give Obama a gold star because he ran a smaller deficit in his last year in office than the first, when in the middle he ran some of the biggest deficits in history and added more to debt than any president in modern history. It'd be like gaining 50 pounds a year for 7 years, then only gaining five pounds the next year, and then citing that as evidence that I don't have a weight problem. When arguments like this are made it's essentially treating the deficit in one year as more significant than the overall debt, which doesn't make any sense if you actually understand the distinction.

Trying to hold Obama up as a paragon of fiscal responsibility is a tenuous argument. Just stick with Clinton on that one.

[Yank2133]

Republicans have never cared about the deficit. Concern trolling about the deficit was just about curtailing Democrats spending on programs they hate. The GOP doesn't have a problem with excessive spending when it is on things they like (ex. tax cuts, the military).

The real question is why do pundits by into their fake concern about deficits.