Since 1992 there have been six presidencies: three Democrats — Clinton, Obama, and Biden — and three Republicans — Bush, Trump 45, and Trump 47. President Clinton, despite his ethical flaws, left President Bush low unemployment, low inflation, a growing economy, and a $230 billion surplus. Bush’s tax cut erased the surplus, adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit, plus the Iraq war adding another $500 billion in unfunded war costs. President Obama received an economy suffering from a housing collapse, a subprime mortgage failure, and a $1.3 trillion deficit. His vilified ARRA buttressed us through 2009 and helped us bounce back. As Barack’s term ended, deficits were 3.2% of GDP, within historical norms, unemployment was dropping, jobs were growing,
and hourly wages outpaced inflation. Donald prioritized another tax cut, creating another $2 trillion hole in the deficit over 10 years. COVID categorically proved Donald’s incompetence, deprecating vaccines, advancing bogus remedies, and pushing natural herd immunity which would have killed 1.9-2.2 million Americans. Biden’s vaccination distribution limited deaths to 1.4 million. The estimated COVID cost to the economy was $14-16 trillion.
Biden spent $4.7 trillion in deficit spending, almost all intended to fix Donald’s wreck left between the economy and COVID. In 2024 — ignoring standard Republican lies — the economy grew by a healthy 2.8%. GDP, consumer spending and employment were up. Interest rates were down and inflation fell to 2.9% in December 2024. This was Biden’s economy in 2024. So, what damage has Donald triggered in two years?
Another tax cut and another $4.7 trillion-deficit hole and Elon Musk’s dismantling of government cost us another $21.7 billion paying Americans to stay home and untold costs in lost professionalism. His tariffs cost every American family $1,100 each year. His ballroom is encrusted with 24k gold! All this gold as Americans struggle to pay for gasoline, food, medicine, health insurance, and daily needs! His helipad, his ballroom, his botched Reflecting Pool, just a few of the additional costs to the taxpayers! Add HIS war, which was supposed to end 4 1/2 months ago at writing. The actual military costs, between $1.5-$2 billion per month plus the $38 billion already spent, is an unending drain upon our treasury. Adding the $5-$9.2 billion to repair damage to American infrastructure there, the hole is fast approaching $50 billion with no end in sight and the straits still closed. Coincidentally, did the reader notice the shamefully rusted USS Abraham Lincoln? She and her sailors deserved better.
In each Republican presidency, America suffered crumbling economies and massive additions to the debt. Democrats Clinton, Barack, and Biden were in fact saddled with fixing Republican economic disasters and in one case vaccinating millions of Americans to counter Donald’s disinterest in distribution. Critically, all three Republican presidencies began with multimillion-dollar tax cuts for the wealthy.
Donald’s Republican Party has no interest in reducing deficits except by punishing the marginalized and the elderly, cutting programs benefiting middle-class Americans while inflicting costly tariffs, his war costs, and his DOGE terminations that severely crippled government. This excludes Donald’s cuts to health care, which will explode when the majority of the $911 billion in Medicaid cuts surfaces AFTER the November election. This is how we accrued a $40 trillion debt.
Anyone considering voting for any Republican in November must remember these 30 years: the GOP fixation on tax cuts benefiting billionaires and especially Donald’s spending taxpayer dollars on foolish construction to attach his name, and completely disregarding the 90% of us struggling to choose between gas, food, health care, and medicines. The interests of the 90%, however, will never surpass the desires of corporations and the wealthy. Conversely, Republican legislators always crave tax cuts first and all three Republicans left the American economy in shambles. Anyone focused on their wallets cannot support what Eric Burlison and Donald are selling, which consists of two words: fear of “communism” and “socialism.” Your wallet depends upon ignoring this “hoax.”
Robert Haslag lives in Nixa.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Listen to your wallet — and history — on Election Day | Opinion
