by Rod Williams, June 8, 2024- In discussion with fellow Republicans, they may admit Trump's flaws and express concern about Trump's character and commitment to democracy but will argue that his policies are superior to those of President Biden. They will assert that Trump and Republicans are fiscally responsible, and that Democrats spend recklessly. The data does not support that.
At one time, not so long ago, I believe Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility. Along with abandoning many of their other principles, Republicans no longer seem concerned about the looming debt crisis and in practice are no better than Democrats at restraining our ballooning national debt. Republicans may put on a good show and threaten a government shutdown when it is time to raise the debt ceiling, but that is reckless drama. In practice, Republicans are no better stewards of taxpayer dollars than Democrats.
When one points out to a Trump supporter that Trump ballooned the deficit, they will excuse this by saying he had to deal with Covid and provide Covid relief. That is true. However, even excluding debt relief for Covid, Trump was a bigger spender than Biden. Also, you may recall, that if Trump would have had his way, the government would have even been more generous with Covid relief. At one time when Congress appropriated $600 a month Covid relief for the unemployed, Trump argued it should be $2,000 a month. (link) Democrats were more fiscally responsible than Republicans.
The following from Committee for a Reponsible Federal Budget provides data to show that Trump has been a bigger spender than Biden.
Trump and Biden: The National Debt
The national debt is on course to reach a record share of the economy under the next presidential administration, due in part to policies approved by Presidents Trump and Biden during their time in office, including executive actions and legislation passed by Congress.
While it is important to understand the fiscal impact of the promises candidates make on the campaign trail – particularly because they reflect the candidates’ own policy preferences and are not impacted by unexpected external events or the actions of Congress – the fact that both leading candidates have served as President also allows for a comparison of their actual fiscal records. This analysis focuses on the estimated ten-year debt impact of policies approved by Presidents Trump and Biden around the time of enactment.1 In this analysis, we find:
President Trump approved $8.4 trillion of new ten-year borrowing during his full term in office, or $4.8 trillion excluding the CARES Act and other COVID relief.
President Biden, in his first three years and five months in office, approved $4.3 trillion of new ten-year borrowing, or $2.2 trillion excluding the American Rescue Plan.
President Trump approved $8.8 trillion of gross new borrowing and $443 billion of deficit reduction during his full presidential term.
President Biden has so far approved $6.2 trillion of gross new borrowing and $1.9 trillion of deficit reduction.
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