trump has either been lying about what his tariffs will do to the economy, or he himself doesn't understand what they will do

lustylad's Avatar
Biden added $4.3 trillion to the debt, your dubious made-up numbers aside. It's in black & white on the original link. Originally Posted by tommy156
Good grief! I wish my numbers were “made up”. The debt is out of control.

It appears you cited the wrong link, either deliberately or out of laziness.

Your link is from a June 24, 2024 analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) which states:

“President Biden, in his first three years and five months in office, approved $4.3 trillion of new ten-year borrowing”.

That is NOT the same as the amount actually added to the debt since Biden took office on January 20, 2021. Your own link even cautions you on this point:

“This analysis… does not estimate the amount of debt accumulated over their terms.”

Since you seem to like CRFB, I found another analysis they published a week later (July 2, 2024) that DOES measure how much the debt actually grew under each President. Quoting from the link below:

“Gross federal debt grew by $6.3 trillion over the first three years and five months of President Trump’s term and $7.8 trillion during his full term; gross debt has grown $7.0 trillion during President Biden’s term so far.”

Not only did you pluck an orange out of a CRFB study and call it an apple, but you ignored another CRFB study containing the actual numbers relevant to our discussion. Then you neglected to note Biden still has 7 months left to fatten his final total. Since we’re currently adding $1 trillion to the debt every 100 days, there is no doubt Biden will catch up and surpass Trump’s own (covid-distorted) 4-year debt record by the time he leaves office.

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/trump-and-biden-debt-growth



There was no lost argument here. I provided links to what I was talking about. I was right, he was wrong. Originally Posted by tommy156
Lol. Please go back and re-read my comments above.

If you still think you're right and I'm wrong, re-read them again.
lustylad's Avatar
trump's tariffs were part of how he exploded the debt by nearly 8 trillion in 4 years. Originally Posted by tommy156
Biden added $4.3 trillion to the debt...

But that has nothing to do with trump tariffs. Originally Posted by tommy156
Hmm... First you claim trump's tariffs "exploded the debt". Then when I asked you to explain, you insist the debt has "nothing to do with trump tariffs".

Which is it, tommy?
lustylad's Avatar
trump has repeatedly made the false claim that China (or the country in question) will have to pay the tariffs. That's exactly the opposite of how tariffs work. Originally Posted by tommy156
Already addressed in post #26. Are you capable of grasping nuance?

Question for tommy: If tariffs only hurt us and not them, why are they so vociferously opposed to them?