Before the U.S. plunges itself deeper into debt over Trump's planned tax cuts, it's worth noting that as recently as the 1990s, America had a balanced budget. Our tax system was designed for revenues to grow along with the U.S. economy. But that's no longer the case. So how did the country get here? - ThreadSky

lmg.bsky.social • 31 days ago

Before the U.S. plunges itself deeper into debt over Trump's planned tax cuts, it's worth noting that as recently as the 1990s, America had a balanced budget. Our tax system was designed for revenues to grow along with the U.S. economy. But that's no longer the case. So how did the country get here?

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serendipityfalcon.bsky.social•31 days ago

Two things: forever wars started by George W, and tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations, also started by George W. Wildly increased by Trump. 1/4 of our national debt was added during Trump 1

nidula.bsky.social•31 days ago

📌

nidula.bsky.social•31 days ago

Exactly this!

charlene411.bsky.social•31 days ago

charlene411.bsky.social•31 days ago

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

What changed since the Clinton administration balanced the budget? Back then, America reported surpluses for fiscal years 1998–2001 (the only years ever to have them from 1970 to 2023). It wasn't a massive increase in spending, but the huge decreases in taxes benefitting America’s most affluent.

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

"If not for the Bush tax cuts and their extensions, as well as the Trump tax cuts, revenues would be on track to keep pace with spending indefinitely,” Bobby Kogan told me in 2023 -- a history lesson that's worth repeating. Kogan is a federal budget policy expert at the Center for American Progress.

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

Kogan also said (this is a 2-part quote): “If you do a cuts-only approach, then we would probably still see calls for more tax cuts. If you want to fix this, you should start with the cause: We got here in the first place because of tax cuts for the rich..."

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

"...It is societally unfair to give huge tax cuts that disproportionately favor the rich and then try to fund them by taking away programs from the people least able to lose them,” Kogan added. (Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan think tank, for the record.)

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

For those cheering DOGE bc they think Elon's cuts will handily fund the next round of Trump tax cuts, the math shows they won't. The DOGE cuts will barely make a dent; they won't fund the Trump tax cuts. They will just accelerate the wealth transfer to the rich while crushing ordinary Americans.

lmg.bsky.social•31 days ago

Once the Trump tax cuts take effect, middle-class Americans and those with less will see very little change to their bottom line. That's because the lion's share of funds will flow to the nation's wealthiest, which will plunge the U.S. deeper into debt and damn generations to come.

mhobart.bsky.social•31 days ago

We need a very clear illustrated booklet or an infographic that explains this with citations and super clear graphs written at 6th grade level to help put cracks in the narrative that Republicans are more fiscally responsible than Democrats. It is very hard to explain to people w/o visual supports.

mhobart.bsky.social•31 days ago

Very few people understand that the “golden age” (postwar to early 70’s) they are nostalgic for was fueled by high income taxes on the rich, strong unions and extensive Federally funded infrastructure projects. Plenty of other things were wrong, but the tax structure was right.

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