{"id":2293234,"date":"2024-07-12T06:48:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-post-deficit-presidential-campaign-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T06:51:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:51:45","slug":"the-post-deficit-presidential-campaign-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-post-deficit-presidential-campaign-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"The post-deficit presidential campaign &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-post-deficit-presidential-campaign-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2293234&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the importance of\u2063 addressing the national debt in the 2024 presidential campaign. Despite the alarming increase in \u2062the\u2063 national debt, the \u200bissue was not a \u2063prominent topic during the presidential debate. Both President Biden and former President Trump mentioned the debt but focused more on attacking\u200c each other rather than proposing solutions \u2063to address the issue.\u2063 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/financial-crisis-looming-due-to-mounting-federal-debt-experts\/\" title=\"Financial Crisis Looming Due to Mounting Federal Debt: Experts\">growing national debt poses<\/a> a significant threat to the economy, with\u2062 interest payments alone \u200dcosting\u2063 a substantial percentage of GDP.\u200b However,\u2063 the topic \u200bof deficit spending\u2064 has\u200b not been a priority for either party in\u200d the campaign, as voters are more interested in issues \u2063like\u200b taxes, immigration, and abortion. Despite some efforts by the Biden administration to reduce the deficit, the issue is not expected\u2062 to feature prominently in \u2062campaign messaging.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">\n<div class=\"tdb-search-form-inner\"><input class=\"tdb-head-search-form-input\" placeholder=\" \" type=\"text\" value name=\"s\" autocomplete=\"off\"><button class=\"wpb_button wpb_btn-inverse btn tdb-head-search-form-btn\" title=\"Search\" type=\"submit\"><span>Search<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-sacff-txt\">Magazine &#8211; Washington Briefing <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">The post-deficit presidential campaign<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span> <a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/haisten-willis\/\">Haisten Willis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2024-07-12T06:42:38-04:00\">July 12, 2024 6:42 am<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1697809\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The first 2024 presidential debate generated days of headlines about President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Joe Biden\">Joe Biden<\/a>\u2018s health and former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s loose way with words.<\/p>\n<p>But the debate came just days after a government agency <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3053614\/biden-deficit-undercut-ballooning-national-debt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"announced\">announced<\/a> that $1.9 trillion would be added to the national debt this year alone \u2014 and that the ratio of debt to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-official-trump-crushes-record-for-largest-gdp-increase-in-us-history-3rd-quarter-gdp-up-33-1\/\" title=\"IT&#039;S OFFICIAL: Trump Crushes Record for Largest GDP Increase in US History -- 3rd Quarter GDP Up 33.1%\">gross domestic product<\/a> would soon eclipse a record set during World War II, suggesting there were more important matters to discuss than which candidate had a lower <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3062835\/trump-biden-presidential-debate-better-golfer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"golf handicap\">golf handicap<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Illustration by Julia Terbrock\/Washington Examiner; Getty Images; Associated Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWith debt growing out of control, we need leadership now more than ever. This should be domestic issue No. 1 in the presidential campaign,\u201d said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. \u201cIt\u2019s time for Presidents Biden and Trump to put forward plans to fix our debt. And it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-gun-policies-concern-second-amendment-advocates\/\" title=\"Biden gun policies concern Second Amendment advocates\">long past time<\/a> for Congress to act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Congressional Budget Office\u2019s debt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/60039\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"update\">update<\/a> came just nine days before the presidential debate, yet MacGuineas\u2019s plea for the candidates to make it the top domestic issue was not heeded. Both Biden and Trump mentioned it, but only as a means with which to attack each other. <\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Trump] had the largest tax cut in American history, $2 trillion,\u201d Biden said at one point. \u201cHe raised the deficit larger than any president has in any one term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump promised his proposed tariffs would \u201creduce our deficit tremendously\u201d while claiming that his 2017 tax cuts increased federal revenues because they \u201cspurred the greatest economy that we\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe took in more revenue with much less tax, and companies were bringing back trillions of dollars back into our country,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Biden then accused Trump of wanting to \u201cfundamentally bankrupt the country\u201d with another tax cut if reelected.<\/p>\n<p>The problem for Biden, and for campaigning around the deficit generally, is that voters are inherently more interested in how much they pay in taxes than in esoteric concepts such as the national debt. Accordingly, Biden and Trump grew much more animated while speaking about immigration and abortion than how they would cut the deficit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost presidents have just paid [the national debt] lip service,\u201d presidential historian Craig Shirley said. \u201cI don\u2019t recall voters ever being concerned about the debt or deficit spending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shirley has written more than half a dozen books on President Ronald Reagan, who significantly increased the national debt while becoming one of the most beloved presidents in living memory. He won 49 states in a historic landslide during the 1984 election, and his vice president was elected to the top job four years later.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the numbers released in June aren\u2019t pretty, and the public will begin to feel the pain at some point. <\/p>\n<p>The national debt grew by $3.1 trillion in 2020 thanks to a host of COVID-19 stimulus programs and has been creeping back toward that number in the years since. It grew by $1.4 trillion in 2022 and $1.7 trillion in 2023, and it is set to grow by an estimated $1.9 trillion in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Biden has nonetheless used the $3.1 trillion figure from 2020 to claim he \u201ccut the deficit,\u201d a statement that is true only in the sense that the year-over-year deficit is not as high as it was in Trump\u2019s last year in office. Trump\u2019s largest non-COVID-19 deficit was $980 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The national debt could reach 106.2% of GDP by 2027, surpassing the prior record set just after the end of World War II, and could reach 122% of GDP within a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Interest payments alone will cost 3.1% of GDP this year and are expected to hit a record 4.1% next year, outpacing the amount spent on defense and Medicare. Those interest payments could eventually slow economic growth and threaten the status of popular government programs in a budget crunch.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is right that Trump added more to the deficit than any other president, clocking in at $8 trillion over his four years. Absent COVID-19-related spending, the two are virtually tied at around $4.8 trillion each.<\/p>\n<p>Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt criticized Biden\u2019s handling of the budget in a statement sent to the <em>Washington Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump built the strongest economy in American history,\u201d she said. \u201cIn just three years, Joe Biden\u2019s out-of-control spending created the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republican-leadership-announces-taskforce-leaders-to-fix-bidens-failures\/\" title=\"House Republican Leadership Announces Taskforce Leaders to Fix Biden&#039;s Failures\">worst inflation crisis<\/a> in generations. President Trump proudly passed the largest tax CUTS in history. Joe Biden wants the largest tax HIKE ever, which would take nearly $40,000 away from the average American family who is already losing thousands every year due to Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-comes-out-swinging-against-tariffs-despite-keeping-trumps-in-place\/\" title=\"Biden criticizes tariffs while maintaining Trump&#039;s policies\">record-high inflation crisis<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, the White House pointed to some of Biden\u2019s efforts to reduce the deficit. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the prior administration increased the debt by a record $8 trillion and didn\u2019t sign a single law to reduce the deficit, President Biden has signed $1 trillion of deficit reduction into law,\u201d the Biden White House said in a statement<em>.<\/em> \u201cWhile congressional Republicans want to blow up the debt again with $5 trillion in more Trump tax cuts, President Biden\u2019s budget would lower the deficit by $3 trillion by making billionaires and biggest corporations pay their fair share and cutting spending on special interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the issue is unlikely to figure much in Democratic campaign messaging for the rest of this year. A handful of GOP opponents tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2440531\/republican-debate-rivals-attack-trump-over-7-trillion-added-to-debt-on-his-watch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"hang deficit spending\">hang deficit spending<\/a> on Trump during the Republican primary and came away with nothing to show for it.<\/p>\n<p>Polls bear out the issue as well, with deficit spending far from the top of mind for the average voter. A recent Gallup <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/1675\/most-important-problem.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>poll<\/a> that asked voters what they think is the most important problem facing the country found that 36% cited economic problems, but just 5% named the federal budget deficit or federal debt as their top issue.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>David Greenberg, a Rutgers University history, media studies, and journalism professor, said the national debt has been a big issue in some presidential contests but is not one this time. The last candidates to take it seriously were Ross Perot and Bill Clinton, the latter of whom was able to balance the annual budget three times at the end of his second term.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe debt has since then come to be seen as an elitist concern, more important to bankers than to ordinary people,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth parties use it opportunistically to attack the other, but it\u2019s not a huge winner with the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1697809\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1697809\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><a class=\"tdb-logo-a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" title=\"Washington Examiner\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-img-wrap\"><\/span><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-logo-text-title\">Washington Examiner<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first 2024 presidential debate focused on President Joe Biden&#8217;s health and former President Donald Trump&#8217;s communication style, but just days before, a government agency announced that $1.9 trillion would be added to the national debt this year. Despite this alarming news, both candidates only briefly mentioned the issue of the growing national debt during the debate, using it as a way to attack each other rather than offering concrete plans to address it. The public may not be as concerned about the national debt as they are about other issues like taxes, making it unlikely to be a major focus of the presidential campaign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2635,"featured_media":2293235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/WB.Campaign-1.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34767,33994,32076],"class_list":["post-2293234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-post-deficit","tag-presidential-campaign","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/WB.Campaign-1.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2293234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2293235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2293234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2293234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2293234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}