Tag Archives: Deficits

$10 Trillion in Added US Debt Since 2001 Shows ‘Bush and Trump Tax Cuts Broke Our Modern Tax Structure’

“In their blind loyalty to their mega-donors, Republicans’ fixation on giant tax cuts for billionaires has created a revenue problem that is driving up our national debt,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse in response to new Treasury Department figures.

By Jon Queally. Published 10-21-2023 by Common Dreams

Photo: White House Archives

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday released new figures related to the 2023 budget that showed a troubling drop in the nation’s tax revenue compared to GDP—a measure which fell to 16.5% despite a growing economy—and an annual deficit increase that essentially doubled from the previous year.

“After record U.S. government spending in 2020 and 2021” due to programs related to the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis, the Washington Post reports, “the deficit dropped from close to $3 trillion to close to $1 trillion in 2022. But rather than continue to fall to its pre-pandemic levels, the deficit unexpectedly jumped this year to roughly $2 trillion.”

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Chaos In Caracas

Yesterday, thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest against President Nicolas Maduro’s government and the deepening economic crisis in the country. We’ve written about the protests last spring and the Maduro government’s response; since then, the situation’s only become worse.

Last year’s protests centered around the chronic shortages of basic goods, inflation and corruption in the government. This year, the same things are driving the protests, but the situation’s even more desperate. To understand why, we need to go back to the beginning of the last decade. Continue reading

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