Trump's daughter thinks these tax cuts will eliminate the nation's deficit!

Budman's Avatar
Below is just one example of why a GOP first term President does go after entitlements.




Budman wants to spend other people's money on Defense. Yet he wanted tax cuts and he wants to increase Defense Spending. And I assume he wants to decrease the deficit. That is like continuing to charge your credit card , not pay the bull and crying about the mounting debt you are running up.

But back to your point....nobody will get reelected cutting taxes for the wealthy in one breath and cutting entitlements on the other . Congress wants to get reelected, Trump wants to be reelected.

Do you want to give up your SS and Medicare benefits so Budman can increase Military spending? If so , you are one of the very few. Most voters do not and Congress knows that. That is why they try and cut say CHIP (children do not vote) .

The problem with the GOP is that many of their voters are on SS and Medicare. Why do you think Trump vowed not to touch them! Originally Posted by WTF
You need to separate the debt / deficit from the tax cut. If, as the right believes, the tax cut increases the revenue to the government then that is a good thing https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepat.../#2c3df8e34bf2 . However, balancing the budget and decreasing the deficit / debt is a completely separate issue. The last time we had a balanced budget was 1998 - 2001. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...ce-the-budget/ . Some credit Clinton with this when others give credit to the republican congress. https://www.cato.org/publications/co...balance-budget . The point is it has been way to many years of deficits and way to much debt to expect any one president to fully reverse this trend. I think it should be addressed by attacking the entitlements including SS but I agree with WTF that many voters on both sides scream "not my benefits" and so it goes. Trump cannot force a balanced budget thru congress. Congress needs to start the process. The military has been gutted by 15 years of war as well as budget cuts. IMO we need to rebuild our military and make sure our equipment is fully maintained and keep our personnel trained. This obviously comes at a higher cost. Protecting this country and our allies should be a top priority for all of us. Addressing the entitlement issues should be the first step in reducing the deficit. Maybe one of these years we will have a congress with some backbone to make the difficult decisions.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 01-07-2019, 05:00 PM
What seems to be hard is to balance the budget.

Tax cuts in the first term you say and Entitlement cuts in the 2nd term you say...

How'd that work out for Bush?

How'd that 2006 mid year turn out?

How do you think this 2018 mid year will turn out? Originally Posted by WTF
How did the 2018 mid terms work out?

And has the deficit shrunk because of the Trump tax cuts?
How did the 2018 mid terms work out?

And has the deficit shrunk because of the Trump tax cuts? Originally Posted by WTF
How did the 2018 mid terms work out. Republican gains in the Senate continuing the ability of Trump to nominate Conservative justices and shape a conservative judicial system.

Roughly an "average" turnover of seats in the House and a change of party, but with no real power to do anything other than investigate and obstruct.

All in all not a bad mid term in my opinion...
themystic's Avatar
How did the 2018 mid terms work out. Republican gains in the Senate continuing the ability of Trump to nominate Conservative justices and shape a conservative judicial system.

Roughly an "average" turnover of seats in the House and a change of party, but with no real power to do anything other than investigate and obstruct.

All in all not a bad mid term in my opinion... Originally Posted by eccielover
Average turnover? The biggest vote in the history of America to refute a sitting president. Investigate and obstruct. The 2 biggest fears Trump has. Funding the government is no real power in your opinion?
Average turnover? The biggest vote in the history of America to refute a sitting president. Investigate and obstruct. The 2 biggest fears Trump has. Funding the government is no real power in your opinion? Originally Posted by themystic
Unfortunately for you, the only biggest vote you must be referring to is the popular vote(largely from a very small minority of high populous states). The number of House seats turned over isn't very spectacular and didn't even set a 10 year record for midterms. Well below the 2010 turnover. And as you certainly saw, national popular vote has little to do with the Senate composition.

And yes, we have to define power. Obstruction is a form of power and it worked well for Republicans to curb Obama's unrestricted power. It was even able to jump start the economy with the sequester. Maybe the same sanity in fiscal responsibility will come out of this shutdown.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 01-08-2019, 06:45 AM
How did the 2018 mid terms work out. Republican gains in the Senate continuing the ability of Trump to nominate Conservative justices and shape a conservative judicial system.

Roughly an "average" turnover of seats in the House and a change of party, but with no real power to do anything other than investigate and obstruct.

All in all not a bad mid term in my opinion... Originally Posted by eccielover
I notice you did not address Trumps debt increases...
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
Unfortunately for you, the only biggest vote you must be referring to is the popular vote(largely from a very small minority of high populous states). The number of House seats turned over isn't very spectacular and didn't even set a 10 year record for midterms. Well below the 2010 turnover. And as you certainly saw, national popular vote has little to do with the Senate composition.

And yes, we have to define power. Obstruction is a form of power and it worked well for Republicans to curb Obama's unrestricted power. It was even able to jump start the economy with the sequester. Maybe the same sanity in fiscal responsibility will come out of this shutdown. Originally Posted by eccielover
The biggest Democratic gains in the House since 1974, which was post-Watergate. 7 governorships went from red to blue. Several state legislatures went from red to blue, with many others turning purple. Republicans won 2 an additional 2 Senate with victories in primarily heavily Republican states, Florida being the exception. I guess when that is the ONLY win for Republicans last November, they have to emphasize it and de-emphasize the losses.

You did make one correct statement -- national popular vote has little to do with the Senate composition. But huge Democratic wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Wisconsin, all key states in Trump's 2016 victory, does not bode well for Trump in 2020.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 01-08-2019, 07:46 AM
Unfortunately for you, the only biggest vote you must be referring to is the popular vote(largely from a very small minority of high populous states). The number of House seats turned over isn't very spectacular and didn't even set a 10 year record for midterms. Well below the 2010 turnover. And as you certainly saw, national popular vote has little to do with the Senate composition.

And yes, we have to define power. . Originally Posted by eccielover
The Dems flipped 350 State House seats...


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...mpacts/575170/
The Dems flipped 350 State House seats...


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...mpacts/575170/ Originally Posted by WTF
And yet it still wasn't any sort of mandate. Republicans still totally control 31 state legislatures to 18 for the Dems, with Minnesota being the only one not fully controlled by one party or the other.

https://www.watchdog.org/national/mi...daa04c73b.html
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
And yet it still wasn't any sort of mandate. Republicans still totally control 31 state legislatures to 18 for the Dems, with Minnesota being the only one not fully controlled by one party or the other.

https://www.watchdog.org/national/mi...daa04c73b.html Originally Posted by eccielover
Still looking for that silver lining in a cloud of darkness.
Still looking for that silver lining in a cloud of darkness. Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX
A cloud of darkness? I'm confused how that applies to Republicans right now. Thanks to Obama Republicans had a very good 8 years that is now just starting to swing back as it always does. However right now.

Republicans have the Presidency, and will even if Trump gets impeached.
Republicans have the Senate by more seats than prior to the Mid-Terms.
The judicial system all the way to the SCOTUS is getting populated more and more with conservative justices for what will likely be a generation now at least.
Republicans have a 27 to 23 lead in Governors offices.
Republicans have a 31 to 18 lead in total control of State Legislatures.

Dems have the HOUSE.

No worries here yet.
themystic's Avatar
A cloud of darkness? I'm confused how that applies to Republicans right now. Thanks to Obama Republicans had a very good 8 years that is now just starting to swing back as it always does. However right now.

Republicans have the Presidency, and will even if Trump gets impeached.
Republicans have the Senate by more seats than prior to the Mid-Terms.
The judicial system all the way to the SCOTUS is getting populated more and more with conservative justices for what will likely be a generation now at least.
Republicans have a 27 to 23 lead in Governors offices.
Republicans have a 31 to 18 lead in total control of State Legislatures.

Dems have the HOUSE.

No worries here yet. Originally Posted by eccielover
That was a good post eccielover. Im glad the House will no longer give this new age GOP a free pass. Its hard to back a party that is led by a deceptive narcissistic liar like Trump. Just like the Bush presidency ultimately the GOP will have a huge fail and hurt the USA.
WTF's Avatar
  • WTF
  • 01-08-2019, 01:26 PM
And yet it still wasn't any sort of mandate. Republicans still totally control 31 state legislatures to 18 for the Dems, with Minnesota being the only one not fully controlled by one party or the other.

https://www.watchdog.org/national/mi...daa04c73b.html Originally Posted by eccielover
It was a horrible result.

The GOP is still in control but the gap is trending in the wrong direction.

The biggest thing the GOP has going for them is gerrymandering and a SC they may rule that gerrymandering is ok.

A ruling for gerrymandering is the biggest thing in the pipeline. A ruling for these type of districts will ruin this country....if it's not already.

I do not think Trump will get reelected btw.

The GOP will probably keep the Senate and the House will stay blue.

My early predictions. ..
SpeedRacerXXX's Avatar
A cloud of darkness? I'm confused how that applies to Republicans right now. Thanks to Obama Republicans had a very good 8 years that is now just starting to swing back as it always does. However right now.

Republicans have the Presidency, and will even if Trump gets impeached.
Republicans have the Senate by more seats than prior to the Mid-Terms.
The judicial system all the way to the SCOTUS is getting populated more and more with conservative justices for what will likely be a generation now at least.
Republicans have a 27 to 23 lead in Governors offices.
Republicans have a 31 to 18 lead in total control of State Legislatures.

Dems have the HOUSE.

No worries here yet. Originally Posted by eccielover
ROTFLMAO. 2018 mid-terms were a disaster for Republicans. The only positive as you point out is in a year when Democrats were defending 25 seats and Republicans 8, the Republicans picked up 2 seats. Many of the seats up for re-election were in states Trump handily won in 2016. I predicted 1 minimum pickup for Republicans. Nice victory for Republicans but it could have been a lot better.

In 2020 there will be 22 Republican Senate seats up for re-election and only 12 Democratic seats. The main point in my posts is that yes, like you say, Republicans still have leads in the Senate, Governorships, and State Legislatures, but the leads, except for the Senate, narrowed greatly in 2018. Trump has created this slide for Republicans even though the economy, is doing great. The question is can he reverse it? His approval rating is stuck in the low 40s.

Nearly two years after taking office, President Donald Trump has gotten less popular in every state and Washington, DC, according to the findings of one polling firm.

The firm Morning Consult releases monthly approval ratings for Trump from each state.
themystic's Avatar
ROTFLMAO. 2018 mid-terms were a disaster for Republicans. The only positive as you point out is in a year when Democrats were defending 25 seats and Republicans 8, the Republicans picked up 2 seats. Many of the seats up for re-election were in states Trump handily won in 2016. I predicted 1 minimum pickup for Republicans. Nice victory for Republicans but it could have been a lot better.

In 2020 there will be 22 Republican Senate seats up for re-election and only 12 Democratic seats. The main point in my posts is that yes, like you say, Republicans still have leads in the Senate, Governorships, and State Legislatures, but the leads, except for the Senate, narrowed greatly in 2018. Trump has created this slide for Republicans even though the economy, is doing great. The question is can he reverse it? His approval rating is stuck in the low 40s.

Nearly two years after taking office, President Donald Trump has gotten less popular in every state and Washington, DC, according to the findings of one polling firm.

The firm Morning Consult releases monthly approval ratings for Trump from each state.
Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX
Thanks for that concise recap. Its got to be getting harder for the Trump loyalists to keep lying for the guy. Hes losing more and more of his base everyday