The only certainty in Trump's budget: Oceans of red ink

Even if the president were to get the spending cuts and economic growth he wants, deficits would explode to $7.1 trillion over the next decade.

By DAVID ROGERS 02/12/2018 02:40 PM EST

The biggest single difference between President Donald Trump’s new budget and his first one nine months ago is this: The White House can no longer hide the immense deficits it would create, not after the tax cuts and military buildup Trump championed and secured.

Documents released Monday show a pronounced drop in total government receipts from 2018 to 2022 when compared with the revenue numbers the White House presented for the same years last May. That includes about $740 billion less from corporate, estate and individual taxes in the same five years, a number that tracks with what the Joint Tax Committee had warned of in December.

The result is to exacerbate the nation's already tenuous fiscal situation. Even if Trump were to get all the spending cuts he wants, plus his ambitious 3 percent growth, deficits over the next decade would total $7.1 trillion. That's twice what the Office of Management and Budget forecast last spring.

Indeed, the level of red ink could be understated, since all these calculations rest on very favorable economic assumptions and do not include a full accounting of the recent spending increases and additional tax cuts enacted in recent weeks.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/12/trump-budget-deficit-404588