There are growing concerns that President-elect Donald Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are ignoring the national debt and that it will continue to soar over the coming years as elected leaders vow to increase military spending, cut taxes and push back against changes to entitlement programs.
“Donald Trump is going to jack it up to $30 trillion because I don’t see anybody in Washington, D.C., willing to stand up and saying ’stop’ to anybody,” former Florida Republican Rep. Joe Scarborough said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “You are going to have Democrats, Republicans both gleeful about tax cuts. You are going to have Democrats, Republicans both gleeful about infrastructure spending.
“Nobody is there to say, ’No,’ ” he warned.
The debt soared climbed from $5.6 trillion to $10.7 under President George W. Bush and to nearly $20 trillion under President Obama, raising questions as to whether Mr. Trump and elected leaders in Washington will fulfill their campaign promises to pare it down.
The Congressional Budget Office says the debt has ballooned thanks to a combination of the rising costs of Social Security and Medicare tied to the aging population, and new spending and tax cuts approved by Congress.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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