Trump swims in red ink that Republicans used to care about

Today, my travel logistics require me to “keep it tight” (as my editors used to say). That’s fine, because the latest dire fiscal news speaks for itself. Chalk this up as another Trump failure:

“Government debt is on track to hit historically high levels and at its current growth rate will be nearly equal in size to the U.S. economy by 2028, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. By the end of this year, the ratio of federal debt to the United States’ gross domestic product will reach 78 percent, according to the CBO, the highest ratio since 1950.”

Here’s one big reason why we’re projected to drown in historically deep red ink:

“The CBO projects the Republican tax law passed last fall will add $1.84 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years. Republican leaders have argued the cuts will jump-start the economy, creating enough economic growth to offset much of the additions to the debt. But CBO and other nonpartisan analysts have repeatedly rejected that claim.”

Let’s quote directly from the nonpartisan CBO report:

“Large and growing federal debt over the coming decades would hurt the economy and constrain future budget policy. The amount of debt that is projected under the extended baseline would reduce national saving and income in the long term; increase the government’s interest costs, putting more pressure on the rest of the budget; limit lawmakers’ ability to respond to unforeseen events; and increase the likelihood of a fiscal crisis.”

Trump and his Republican enablers — who claimed to be fiscal conservatives when Obama was in office — insisted last winter that the massive tax cuts they’ve skewed toward the wealthy will power the economy, boost annual growth by three to four percent, and thus generate sufficient tax revenue to shrink the deficit. But the CBO projects long-term growth of 1.9 percent, and says the tax cuts will spike the deficit.

Way to make America great again.

You may recall — but probably don’t, because it was hundreds of cons ago — that candidate Trump, citing his brilliant business record, promised to erase the national debt very, very fast. In March ’16 he vowed to “get rid of” the debt “over a period of eight years.” Instead he’s making things worse, thanks to a combination of his deep tax cuts and newly prodigious spending, particularly on the military.

Gee. Who could ever have imagined that he would so egregiously widen the chasm between promise and performance? As Corey Lewandowski would say, “Womp womp.”

The nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation, founded by a Republican, has also weighed in:

“(The CBO) report confirms that our nation’s fiscal outlook is on a dangerous and unsustainable path. With substantial imbalances between spending and revenues projected well into the future, we are on course to burden America’s children with trillions more in debt and hurt their economic opportunities. The debt outlook would be even more dire if lawmakers extend the tax cuts and higher spending levels that were enacted in recent months.”

But don’t expect Trump’s congressional stooges to suddenly rediscover fiscal prudence and inveigh against the burgeoning Trump-driven debt that’s projected to be the worst since World War II (actually far worse, because today we’re not fighting a world war). They won’t utter a peep, because raging about the debt is just something they do when Democrats hold the White House; and because they’re terrified that speaking out will prompt Trump to troll them on Twitter.

Far more likely is that they’ll simply attack the credibility and the legitimacy of the CBO — which is surely conspiring with Hillary to cage immigrant kids underneath a DC pizza parlor. Some people are saying.