** “To contract new debts is not the way to pay old debts.” { George Washington ]
The U.S. national debt for 1789 – 1980, when Ronald Reagan became president was less than $1 trillion. America had paid for the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, recovery from the 1930’s Great Depression, built the Eisenhower freeway system, gone to the moon, instituted Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and much more.
This post begins to examine how Republicans blew up the national debt deliberately, disarmed the IRS, lowered taxes on the rich. The record is statistically clear, and, like much else, the Trump DICTATORSHIP made the national debt crisis much worse. – and. – of course, lied about it.
Below are some beginning excerpts, laying out the FACTS for YOU:
1] “..74 percent of the debt was run up under the last three Republican presidents and..no Republican president since Dwight Eisenhower ever submitted a balanced budget to Congress.” { economist Edward Lotterman: “Cynicism and self-delusion will bankrupt this nation”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 4/23/09 ]
2] “The tax cuts championed by President Donald Trump are helping push the nation toward an unprecedented level of debt, heightening the risk of another financial crisis, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”
[ Evan Halper: “Tax cuts accelerate U.S. toward a debt crisis”; Los Angeles Times; 6/27/18]
3] “The amount of corporate taxes collected by the federal government has plunged to historically low levels in the first sic months of the year, pushing up the federal budget deficit much faster than economists predicted. The reason is President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.” [ Jim Tankersley: “New tax law does a number on the debt”; New York Times; 7/29/18 ]
4]. “Trump also insisted that a new round of tax cuts would lower the debt. – a claim disputed by most mainstream economists, and undermined by the actual budgetary effects of the tax cut he signed into law..” [ Jeff Stein: “Trump’s budget ideas don’t add up”; Washington Post; 9/8/24 ]
5]. “..the eight Clinton years had the fastest average growth in inflation-adjusted GDP since the 1960s, a rate nearly twice as high as over the 23 years since. We threw that sustainability away with tax cuts in 2001, 2003 and 2007.”
[ economist Edward Lotterman: “Wanted: Political cover for the inevitable”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 10/13/24 ]
***. “Thanks to the half-revolution adopted in July 1981, more than a trillion dollars has already been needlessly added to our national debt. – a burden that will plague us indefinitely. Our national savings has been squandered to pay for a tax cut we could not afford…borrowed enormous amounts of foreign capital…the U.S. economy will most surely grow much more slowly. By turning ourselves into a debtor nation for the first time since World War I, we have sacrificed future living standards.” [ David Stockman: “The Triumph of Politics”. – he was Reagan”s budget director!!!!! ]
6] The 2017 Trump tax cuts added $2.5 trillion to the national debt by 2024 analysis. They now represent 6-8% of the current 2026 debt. If they are made permanent, the cost could increase by another $4 trillion over the next ten years.
[ Internet – 4/29/26. some estimates are for a much higher debt from Trump’s tax cuts. ]
7]. “..Donald Trump’s proposal to further reduce the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 15% would make the bottom half of the nation’s income distribution poorer while boosting the fortunes of those at the very top, according to analysis published Oct. 3 by economists at American University.” [ Dispatches; The Progressive Populist; November l, 2024 ]
8]. “Suply-side cultists and Republicans had forecast gloom and doom from the Bush and Clinton tax increases, but the result was the last real prosperity our nation has had.” [ economist Edward Lotterman: “Deficits matter; more than elections”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 7/8/24 ]
9} “Trump cuts force cities to scramble. Minn. communities rethink infrastructure projects amid uncertain federal funding”. [ Sydney Kashiwagi; Minnesota Star Tribune; 4/7/25 ]
10] “How the GOP may pay for the tax cuts”. [ Jacob Bogage; Washington post Weekly; 1/5/25 ]: “Nonpartisan scorekeepers project that Trump’s campaign platform would add up to $15 trillion to future borrowing [the national debt]” Listed below are are “10 policies that Trump and Republicans have floated..” NOTICE WHO GETS HURT AND WHO DOESN’T GET HURT!!!!! “Impose new tariffs. Repeal clean energy programs. Cut ‘unauthorized’ programs. Cancel student loan forgiveness. Eliminate the Education Department. Cut food stamp benefits. Impose Medicaid work requirements. Withhold anti-obesity drugs. End child tax credit for noncitizens Cut IRS funding [NOTE: cutting IRS funding will acyually cost more than it would save !!!]
*** “Having added to the national debt, the wealthy are now funding initiatives that decry the deficit and call for cuts in programs that provide safety nets for middle-class Americans such as Social Security and Medicare.” [ Double Pulitzer Prize winners Donald Barlett & James Steele: “The Betrayal of The American Dream” ]
{NOTE; and then. – this. – the interest on the Republican created national debt. – $1 trillion WASTED. paying the interest on the national debt EVERY. year. Because. – instead of properly and fairly taxing the rich and corporations. – we’re borrowing it. Much more on the failure, the CORRUPTION, of not fairly taxing them will be in post CLXXVI on the Trump DICTATORSHIP. ]
With Justice For All 