Republicans’ dishonesty on deficit reduction

Republicans would like you to believe they’re committed to reducing the deficit.  

The truth is, they aren’t. 

Every time someone questions the Department of Government Efficiency’s outsized and incompetent dismissals of government employees, the talking points of congressional Republicans apparently direct them to talk about the pressure exerted by the deficit — they all do.   

Every time one questions their massive cuts to important programs, whether it’s the exercise of soft power internationally or health care at home, Republicans’ standard response is the need for deficit reduction. And interviewers tend to let them get away with it.  

But Republicans’ professed commitment to deficit reduction is not honest. They aren’t telling the truth. 

Last week, every House Republican but one and every Republican senator but two voted to vastly increase the deficit. House Republicans voted for a budget that cut spending by $2 trillion while instructing House committees to cut taxes by $4.8 trillion. Basic arithmetic tells us that this bill would increase the deficit by $2.8 trillion over the 10-year budget window. 

So House Republicans, who would like to wear the mantle of deficit reduction, actually voted to increase the deficit by $2.8 trillion.

That’s without counting additional interest payments on the debt, and only if the Republicans’ overly rosy economic assumptions pan out. Otherwise, the deficit will increase further.  

The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model estimates the deficit will be closer to $4.9 trillion than to the $2.8 trillion assumed by House Republicans. 

Whichever projection proves more accurate, Republicans voted for a huge increase in the deficit despite their stated commitment to reducing the budget shortfall. 

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the House budget bill would add more to the deficit than any legislation enacted in the past decade — more than the American Rescue Plan Act, twice as much as Trump’s original tax cuts, and seven times more than the bipartisan infrastructure law. 

Much of the problem arises from what the Republicans are actually committed to — not deficit reduction but rather tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. 

The top 1 percent was doing quite well when, during his first term, Trump gave them even more breaks on a temporary basis. Republicans now want to make those additional tax breaks permanent at a 10-year cost of over $4 trillion.

And who gets the benefits? The top 1 percent, who make about $1 million or more per year, would save about $70,000 a year, while middle-income households would get a tax cut of only $1,000, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Why not make the tax cuts permanent for the 99 percent and reduce the deficit by having millionaires pay what they did a few years ago? Republicans say “no,” because their true priority is helping the very wealthiest — not reducing the deficit and not helping the middle class and those struggling to join it.   

And then there is the Senate, where leaders gave Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) the power to abrogate the laws of 3rd grade arithmetic. Even with his fraudulent accounting, and despite the party’s rhetorical commitment to deficit reduction, every Republican senator but two voted for a $2 trillion increase in the deficit. 

Those who actually abide by the laws of addition and subtraction know senators are, in fact, adding about $5.8 trillion to the deficit.  

When these Trump tax cuts were first passed in 2017, federal debt was equivalent to 76.5 percent of gross domestic product. Today, it’s 100 percent of GDP. If the tax cuts expire as scheduled, the deficit will still grow to about 117 percent by 2034. If the House budget is implemented, debt would grow to 125 percent of GDP. The Senate resolution would be even worse.  

When Republicans justify their efforts to cut programs that help ordinary people by referencing the need to reduce the deficit, they are not just being hypocritical. They are also being dishonest. 

If Republicans truly cared about the deficit, they may still back the program cuts, but they could never support the budget bills almost all of them voted for.   

Republicans are cutting health care and education to help fund more tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Deficit reduction is a red herring. 

Mellman is president of The Mellman Group a consultancy that has helped elect 30 U.S. senators, 12 governors and dozens of House members. Mellman served as pollster to Senate Democratic leaders for over 20 years. A member of the American Association of Political Consultants’ Hall of Fame, he is also president of Democratic Majority for Israel.