Republican Deficit Hawking Is About to Backfire
Budget balance isn’t what the GOP looks for when it critiques the cost of government programs. That’s a political problem now.
What I really meant to say was ...
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergHouse Democrats have put their bid on the table for the next coronavirus-pandemic relief bill: A $3 trillion effort to bail out state and local governments, send more money directly to citizens, and more. The main Republican response was par for the course: more talk about the perils of deficits. Which means that it’s time to revisit what Republicans actually mean when they warn about deficits — or, what I call the Republican war on budgeting.
The short version: When Republicans discuss deficits, they’re usually not pointing to the difference between federal government outlays and receipts. Instead, what they’re actually talking about is the gap between how much a spending program or tax plan costs and what they think it’s worth.