Episode 103: The Post-Mortem on Trump's First Term

Today’s podcast is based on a recent article penned by Maya MacGuineas titled The Debt is Huge Because Trump Kept His Promises. Maya also appeared in David’s documentary The Tax Train is Coming. Much of what Maya says is that we shouldn’t be surprised by what happened during Trump’s first term since it has been exactly what he campaigned on. The debt that has accumulated has been a result of President Trump’s campaign promises of steep tax cuts and increased spending on both defense and veterans, and crucially, he promised to not make any changes to Social Security and MediCare. We are now paying the price for it. The numbers proposed were so huge that they seemed exaggerated and improbable, in other words, the amount of debt that Trump was looking to accumulate over the course of his first term was astronomical. The Nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that Trump’s agenda would increase deficits over the next ten years by $4.6 trillion. The numbers at the e...