Posted on 12/05/2018 8:09:09 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
President Trump is dismissing the importance of paying down the national debt, saying he won’t be in office to take blame for the nation's fiscal crisis when it becomes even more unsustainable, according to a report Wednesday.
The national debt sits at $21 trillion and counting. As a candidate, when the national debt was $19 trillion, Trump promised to erase the entire debt “over a period of eight years.”
Senior administration officials showed Trump charts and graphics in early 2017 that illustrated a “hockey stick” spike in the debt in the coming years. Trump said the data showed the national debt would only become untenable after he left office, the Daily Beast reported.
“Yeah, but I won’t be here,” Trump said.
People close to the president told the news outlet that the national debt never actually bothered Trump, despite his public comments about it.
“I never once heard him talk about the debt,” one former White House official said.
White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said it’s also the responsibility of Congress to cut back on spending.
“While the president has and will continue to do everything in his power to rein in Washington’s out-of-control spending, the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, and it’s time for them to work with this president to reduce the debt,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Wait let me get this straight, you think the govt is going to CUT spending but holding spending at a fixed baseline is impossible. You are the nut.
Raising IMPORT tariffs will reduce the budget and protect US workers. win - win.
Well, gee..., his campaign promise in 2016 was that he would eliminate the national debt in 8 years. Now, his position is "screw it, let's just keep running trillion dollar deficits every year to infinity. I won't be here when it blows up".
Somewhere between those is a middle ground I could live with.
It’s actually worse than that. Under our current Fiat Currency system, All Monies are Loaned into Society with Interest attached. Only the Principle is created by the magic money machine, NOT the Interest. In other words, if you wrote a check today to Pay off the National Debt, it would consume every last Federal Reserve Note and Credit, but the Interest would still be Due and Payable to the Bankers. Interest can only be paid through the blood and sweat of Labor.
I know, Math is Hard.
Reading comprehension problems? Lol! I didn’t say that. I don’t believe (nor did I say) it will happen either. It won’t. He was either lying or naive because he thought we could strictly grow our way out of it. We can’t and we won’t. There is zero way the government is going to be stagnant for 20 years and it’s not going to cut spending. So, please learn to read what people are ACTUALLY saying and not what you infer. Trumps thoughts or possible thoughts are not my thoughts. They are my thoughts on HIS thoughts. They are two different things. It’s not that hard.
We could and we should. It would take 50 years but it could be done.
Anyone who thinks either is politically possible is nuts.
I think what he means is he can’t do a thing about it. Trump submitted a budget that cuts spending by $58 billion and Congress rejected it.
And that is why these United States of America will not celebrate a Tricentennial.
Disturbing, but essentially true.
The entire world economy is dependent on our printing presses and continuing to pretend that the dollar has value.
Since nobody can bear the thought of the alternative, I believe they can keep this game of Three Card Monte going long past the end of any of our lifetimes.
...and then he signed the budget they gave him.
Yeh because Trump has realized both parties want spend and they won’t be thwarted.
A veto does the trick.
President Trump is dismissing the importance of paying down the national debt,
Paying down the debt? You mean the 21 TRILLION and climbing daily debt that the United States has? Since when did the media or ANY politician give a rats ass about paying down the debt? Our debt is never going to be paid down. Just paying the interest is more then we can do! Seriously. Just say you hate Trump and leave it at that Stop with the phony baloney attempts to provide reasons!
70% of federal expenditures are entitlements/transfer payments.
As soon as those checks stop, all Hell breaks loose.
FDR gave us social security. He started this mess. On purpose.
I’m all for reducing entitlements. I’ve paid into social security for 40 years now. If they cut me a check for what I’ve paid in through the years, including interest first, then I’d vote to do away with it.
Our president is AWESOME.
I was watching the funeral for Grabby Poppy yesterday with some Democrat friends.
I remarked that I had voted for Ross Perot, the first time, when I was young and didn't understand that government deficits didn't mean an effing thing.
Trump’s not stupid...they want him to fall into a line of questioning that all Republicans fall for...
1. what are you going to do about the debt?
-> Reduce it
2. what programs are you going to cut?
-> babies and children will die
by saying that he won’t be here it gives them no ammo...lol
No. The Contract With America House Republicans, led by Gingrich and Armey, actually balanced the budget, which Reagan never did. They were then moving towards market oriented reform of Medicare when Clinton, who was being dragged down by accumulating scandals, moved decisively left, ceased triangulating, and bunkered in with the hard core progressive wing of the Democratic Party, who were prepared to ignore the scandals as long as he toed the line on their agenda.
Bush 43 actually campaigned in 2004 for Social Security reform with private investment accounts, full funding and inheritability. There were never enough Republican votes in the Senate to break a filibuster so the Bush proposals never got much traction, but the commitment was clear.
Then came the Great Recession and Obama, who added a trillion dollars to baseline spending in his first year and made trillion dollar deficits routine. And now we have Trump, who shows no sign of concern with the question. Despite that, rank and file Republicans on the Hill would support entitlement reform if they saw a path to passage.
You’re right, the numbers have no meaning.
I have no practical idea at all what 21 trillion is.
It may as well be infinity.
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