Now, where we come from a budget has 3 distinct areas of interest. The top line. (The revenue, when in the case of a municipality, taxes). The middle. (Filled with all those pesky expenses like food, services and medicine.) Finally, there is the bottom line. (This is the result when you subtract the middle from the top.) We know its complicated. If you make money this number is positive because you spent less than you made. If this number is negative you live beyond your means. Where we come from the number has been negative for a long time but the Democrats arent the only people to blame.
It is true that many democrats generally push to spend more money on community projects but they also generally push to raise taxes to pay for such programs. Republicans in general have chosen instead to unbalance their budget by cutting their sources of revenue (i.e. taxes). (You can argue that Republicans also try to cut spending but unfortunately when you look at the numbers the spending during their tenure does not go down. Money instead gets reallocated from certain areas in the budget to others like from healthcare to warcare. (Go ahead check the budget... we'll wait.) To an accountant keeping the U.S. budget the increase in expenses or the decrease in revenue are equal in their effects on the number at the bottom. (Yes, they actually track how much of a deficit the federal government runs and add it to the national debt.) A deficit is the result when you don't have enough money to pay for your obligations so, you borrow money to meet those obligations, and boy does the U.S. have some obligations. All representatives (Yes, Democrats and Republicans) spend like they borrowed their billionaire best friends credit card. It's all good, he's (Yes He, because chances are high if they are a billionaire they are a man. 87% chance according to Forbes) got plenty of money. However, budgets do not care if you cut from the top or add to the middle. If the expenses are greater than the revenue the result will equal debt. Luckily for now, the USA has a good enough credit score to keep getting loans to pay for all those obligations it cant meet. However, after decades of running a deficit the US debt load is starting to get pretty heavy even for the strongest economy in the world.
Taxes are the countries income. A country uses this income to pay for things like roads, fighter jets, and spaceships among other things... Just like if you have a job your income is your pay for the work you do. Republicans want you to take a pay cut at your job and focus on those TikTok video projects you've been trying to monetize for the past 4 years but just havent had the time to make them really good so they can go viral. Its time to take that leap and cut your money coming in so you can grow that business. Then, once those videos of rabbits dressed in little velveteen outfits takes off you'll be paying way more in taxes with all that Thumper money comes in. (Yes, the rabbits name is Thumper and he's awesome.)
Many Republicans believe in the idea of cutting taxes. It has become a strongly held belief and the basis of their identity. (Well, that and Jesus hates immigrants, not all immigrants, just the bad ones. They can't tell which ones are bad so they assume they're all bad but they dont believe they're all bad they just dont want to take the chance they will be, so they are.) The idea is: cutting taxes will fuel growth in the economy which will result in more future tax revenues than you would have gotten otherwise by taxing at higher rates and having lower growth. That math does math out in theory. A small piece of a super giant pie can be significantly more than a large piece of a small pie. Oh, how delicious pie math can be.
Ronald Reagan was the poster president for this theory with his Reaganomics. Supply side theory of enriching the top end of the population and they will in turn lift the rest of the people up with it. A billionaire rises all boats. This sounds wonderful and in theory could work. Unfortunately, it discounts one of the most notorious of human flaws. Greed. We got it and you cant have it. It's like trying to take a toy away from a toddler. Which is actually easier because the toddler doesn't have lobbyist. Turns out when people get money they like to keep that money. Then, turn that money into more money. What they don't want to do is give that money away or at the very least avoid giving it to the government. If you try to take their money they hide their money or, they ship it overseas so you cant tax that money. The money also buys them opportunity. It can buy them access to the lawmakers and rule benders to make it easy to keep their money. This creates a cycle of elites pushing down the lower classes instead of bringing them up with them. Dont believe us? Check the income distribution graph for America. (Go ahead... we'll wait.) One might surmise this cycle could lead to billionaires being appointed to some of the top offices in the country and abusing their power by placing their other wealthy friends in highly influential positions throughout the government. We dont expect that to happen in the land of the free though. Americans are too smart to be fooled by a guy with lots of money fooling them into giving him more money and power. No suckers here.
Let's say that is great... Having a lot of financially rich people in the country is good, right? If you're one of them, it definitely is. Financially rich people pay a lot of taxes so that's also great for the government budget, right?* Yes, in 1980 Ronald Reagan started the path for the United States to solve its debt problem by increasing the national debt by 160% during his presidency. An investment to the upper class it seems. That is a short term increase in debt but a lucrative investment into the future. The debt is an expected part of the plan, just wait until that investment grows and all that tax money starts rolling in with all these wealthy businesses and people that it created. It should kick in during the next presidents term though, right? Say 8 years later... What say you George H.W. Bush? Oh, you also decided that same approach would work and increased the national debt 42%. Probably could have pushed that higher if he would have made it 2 terms like his son, G.W. Bush, who managed to increase the debt over 72%. Don't worry though that growth money should be kicking in any day now so we can pay off those trillions of dollars in debt we invested in the future.
Here we are 45 years after the Republicans put their belief in growthanomics and we finally have grown our economy to epic proportions. The tax revenues have taken care of that national debt problem for good. Republicans believed and achieved that financial independence they told their dad they could do. It took a while but once all those multi billion dollar businesses kept their headquarters in the United States and started paying all those taxes, the government of the United States no longer had money problems. It can now pay for everything it needs. It can now build a border wall and provide healthcare. It can give underprivileged kids guns and food. Thank you Republicans not wavering in your beliefs that cutting taxes can solve the budget problem. Our children will now bear the fruits of your investment.
Here is the breakdown if you're interested...
Debt by US President
Here is the full article if you'd like to check the source: President Debt
*Do rich people pay taxes? Yes, some do. However, some would rather pay a lot of money to lobbyist or a fancy accountant to create and find tax loopholes. Once you are wealthy you can utilize these loopholes. It is interesting how wealthy people spend a lot of money to find ways to get out of paying taxes. Maybe, the people they pay will pay taxes on the money the wealthy give them?
Published 8/26/2025
