Posted on 10/31/2018 2:47:57 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
President Trump indicated Wednesday the U.S. government would start paying down the $21.6 trillion in debt it's accrued over the last 80 years.
"We're going to start paying down debt, we have a lot of debt," Trump said during a Wednesday discussion at the White House on the economy. "We're going to start paying down debt."
Trump didn't elaborate, but he made the comment in the context of a discussion about how to improve some of the trade and economic agreements the U.S. has reached over the years. Trump said those past agreements have only helped to let U.S. wealth flow to other countries.
"We have had one of the greatest transfers of wealth in the history of the world," he said. "It's been taken from our country and it's been brought to other countries. And it was only because we had people that were not watching, or they didn't know, or they didn't care, and it's incredible."
He also seemed to allude to the annual U.S. trade deficit by saying the U.S. is losing "a tremendous amount of money ... close to $800 billion a year."
Trump has been criticized for prior speeches in which he has claimed that eliminating the trade deficit would save the U.S. money that it could use to pay down the national debt. These critiques note that the trade deficit is a scorecard of net spending on imports, and is not money that would be suddenly available to the government if it were instead spent on domestic goods.
Others have speculated that Trump wants to use the tariffs imposed on imports that are collected by the U.S. Treasury to pay down the national debt.
The national debt sits at $21.7 trillion, and rose recently after Congress agreed to a $300 billion spending boost...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
We can do it without taking a penny from the earned benefits of the American people or raising taxes.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Well...I guess our debtors will happily take our imaginary money.
Ah, he’s going to sell off all that federal land in the West.
I think he’s going to reform that private bank called the Federal Reserve.
[ Trump: ‘We’re going to start paying down debt’ ]
PEACH FOWTY FIFE!
Maxine Waters says so!
He could sell one plot, Camp Pendelton and pay off most of the debt.
You never thought he would wave that magic wand on our economy and turn it around.
I’m excited to see what he could do for our debt - which by the way, grew on Obama’s watch.
“We have had one of the greatest transfers of wealth in the history of the world,”...
It’s the TRUTH.
Not ALL of that 22 trillion in debt was spent here.
HOW do you give money to other countries when you are 22 TRILLION in debt?!
I just hope 6 more years is enough time to get the country in a strong enough position just in case the next guy (hopefully a conservative) doesn’t measure up to Trump
Nice thought President Trump. But first we need to stop adding to the debt before we can even think about paying down debt.
Trump knows what’s coming. He is doing his part in helping grow the economy. With that comes rising interest rates that were artificially held down for years during the Obama stagnation years. Thus the interest on the debt will rise and begin to take over the budget and compete with his priorities.
Gotta at least smack around the Fed to make a real dent.
This is blatant, outright RACISM!!!
No President Trump, the US Congress is NOT going to start paying down debt.
In fact we’ll never see a single dollar of surplus.
You can take that to the bank.
Nice but most important to cut spending.
Unfortunately, congress will eventually find a new way to actually spend extra cash.
Social spending is about what, 70% of the fed budget?
That means about 15 trillion of that debt was paying for things like making sure migrant caravans are cared for.
If the President secures our border and pays down a significant part of our debt, that’s it, put him in the Hall of Fame because he will be the GOAT!
How can you pay it off when it’s all owned debt secured by bonds? Best start is to live within our means and stop the bleeding.
Can he just sign an EO that says, ‘Do Over!’ ? I mean 0bama did that Shiite on a WEEKLY basis!
I am excited and heartened to see what he comes up with. I KNOW America has been bleeding cash for DECADES now. It will be nice to FINALLY see that cash remain here, paying down debt and doing good FOR AMERICA for a change!
P.S. Please fix the potholes in our roads. Thanks! :)
I don’t believe him this time. Congress will not let him cut spending by the $1T plus that any responsible government would cut. It’s a shame too; our children will suffer because most politicians are selfish and corrupt.
Paying off the debt will be a natural consequence of balanced trade. Currently, China sells us goods, and we pay cash. What does China do with the cash? They could buy goods from us, but mostly they just buy Treasury bonds. If we even out trade with China, China will buy an equal amount of goods, and will not buy debt. The current debt will be re-payed on schedule, and we will have far less debt.
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