President Trump continues the republican precedent of record federal spending, deficits, debt and economic recessions that has taken place over the past 40 years on the watch of Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. The story has been told in PolitiDose commentary for the last nine years while the major news media was silent and continues to call republican Presidents and republicans who serve in congress conservatives.
Now comes a report from Trump's Treasury secretary that for the first 10 months of this fiscal year which ends 9/30/20 the federal deficit came in at $2.81 trillion. The largest single year budget deficit since the previous record of $1.4 trillion federal deficit in President George W. Bush's last fiscal year. And to make matters worse, the CBO (congressional budget office) said when the fiscal year ends the deficit is projected to be a whopping $3.7 trillion. If that number holds true at the end of the fiscal year, the deficit will have more than tripled in just one fiscal year on Trump's watch. The federal deficit also increased both years in Trump's first two fiscal years.
It was also reported that during the 10 month period total federal spending was $5.63 trillion, a 50% increase over the same 10 months in 2019 which was $3.73 trillion. Trump is also the first President to preside over a $4 and $5 trillion spending budget and the very first to add a trillion dollars in federal spending in the space of just one fiscal year.
The country has witnessed a Trump presidency that took over a growing economy, an above average job creation record, low unemployment, reduced federal spending overall, a reduction in deficit spending , a evenly rising Stock Market, low inflation and a balanced economy. But Trump had no real economic plan or policy to keep the economy in-tact or growing. Instead he followed the Reagan and Bush 43 failed ideology of tax cuts, his own trade wars and his incompetence in governing. As a result, the country fell into recession in February and when the coronavirus hit in March and the after shocks later, Trump's failure on the economy, coupled with his failed leadership on the pandemic that followed made the recession and pandemic that much worse and deep.
The spending and deficit numbers above tell the story of President Trump's failure to lead and govern. The results are a disaster for the country and its people, and it is taking place even now 7 months later because the President still has no plans or policy to deal with the situation. The administrations of Clinton and Obama performed so much better in every phase of the economy and the governments fiscal house and there were no economic recessions that began on their watch.
On the other hand, President Trump keeps the republican party's record of federal spending, deficits, debt and economic recessions alive and the precedent continues to grow on the republican watch.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
