(WASHINGTON) — Confronted with trillion-dollar-plus
deficits for as far as the eye can see, President Donald Trump is
offering a budget plan that rehashes previously rejected spending cuts
while leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched.
Trump’s
fiscal 2021 budget plan, expected to be released Monday, isn’t likely
to generate a serious Washington dialogue about what to do, if anything
this election year, about entrenched fiscal problems that have deficits
surging despite a healthy economy. It was being released on the eve of
the New Hampshire primary, a move that minimizes attention.
A
blueprint written as if Trump could enact it without congressional
approval, the budget proposal relies on rosy economic projections and
fanciful claims of future cuts to domestic programs to show that it is
possible to bend the deficit curve in the right direction.
The
reality is that no one — Trump, the Democratic-controlled House or the
GOP-held Senate — has any interest in tackling a chronic budget gap that
forces the government to borrow 22 cents of every dollar it spends.
Trump’s
reelection campaign, meanwhile, is focused on the economy and the
historically low jobless rate while ignoring the government’s budget.
On
Capitol Hill, Democrats controlling the House have seen their number of
deficit-conscious “Blue Dogs” shrink while the roster of lawmakers
favoring costly “Medicare for All” and “Green New Deal” proposals has
swelled. Tea party Republicans have abandoned the cause that defined, at
least in part, their successful takeover of the House a decade ago.
Trump
has succumbed to the Washington temptation to deliver spending
increases and tax cuts first and then deal — or not — with their impact
on the deficit. Trump and key administration figures such as Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin had promised that Trump’s signature cuts to
corporate and individual tax rates would pay for themselves; instead the
deficit spiked by more than $300 billion over 2017 to 2019, falling
just short of $1 trillion.
Trump has also signed two broader budget deals worked out by Democrats and Republicans to get rid of spending cuts left over from a failed 2011 budget accord. The result has been eye-popping spending levels for defense — to about $750 billion this year — and comparable gains for domestic programs favored by Democrats.
The White House hasn’t done much to draw attention to this year’s budget release, though Trump has revealed initiatives of interest to key 2020 battleground states, such as an increase to $250 million to restore Florida’s Everglades and a move to finally abandon a multibillion-dollar, never used, nuclear waste dump that’s political poison in Nevada. The White House also leaked word of a $25 billion proposal for “Revitalizing Rural America” with grants for broadband Internet access and other traditional infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.
The Trump budget also promises a $3 billion increase — to $25 billion — for NASA in hopes of returning astronauts to the moon and on to Mars. It also is likely to reprise his small-bore infrastructure initiative — proposed in prior years to provide just $200 billion in new federal contributions — while proposing a modest parental leave plan. Time.com
Trump has also signed two broader budget deals worked out by Democrats and Republicans to get rid of spending cuts left over from a failed 2011 budget accord. The result has been eye-popping spending levels for defense — to about $750 billion this year — and comparable gains for domestic programs favored by Democrats.
The White House hasn’t done much to draw attention to this year’s budget release, though Trump has revealed initiatives of interest to key 2020 battleground states, such as an increase to $250 million to restore Florida’s Everglades and a move to finally abandon a multibillion-dollar, never used, nuclear waste dump that’s political poison in Nevada. The White House also leaked word of a $25 billion proposal for “Revitalizing Rural America” with grants for broadband Internet access and other traditional infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.
The Trump budget also promises a $3 billion increase — to $25 billion — for NASA in hopes of returning astronauts to the moon and on to Mars. It also is likely to reprise his small-bore infrastructure initiative — proposed in prior years to provide just $200 billion in new federal contributions — while proposing a modest parental leave plan. Time.com