According to the United States Treasury Department, the federal deficit exploded during the first quarter of fiscal 2019 which began on October 1st.
When compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2018, the federal budget deficit increased by nearly 42 percent.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the budget deficit from October through December totals $318.9 billion, up from a deficit of $225 billion for the same three months in the previous year.
So far this budget year, tax revenue is up a tiny 0.2 percent, reflecting the impacts of the tax cuts passed in 2017. Spending is up 9.6 percent.
Anyone who remembers the Bush administration probably remembers what this looks like very well.
Republicans say Democrats like to "tax and spend," but no one spends taxpayer money on frivolous grift and lost causes quite like Republicans do. It's kind of their thing.
Higher budget deficits are not necessarily something anyone should lose sleep over, but Republicans are not running up the deficit for a worthwhile cause or even economic gain for the broader public. It's not as if they're running up the deficit to pay for an aggressive response to climate change or to dramatically expand public transportation. They're blowing the money on tax cuts for people who were already the richest people in the world before they received another tax cut.
I'm not going to stop talking about the GOP's tax cuts for the rich or the budget deficit because highlighting the irresponsibility will be necessary to support rolling back the tax cuts.