Tom Toles for December 31, 2018

Good, now restore that money that your bunch looted from the Treasury.

TrumpubliCONs only whine about deficits when Democrats are in office. The entirety of the federal debt is the consequence of accumulated Republican deficit spending, first under Reagan and Bush Sr and then, following Clinton’s transformation of then-record deficits into record surpluses, Bush Jr came along and transformed the record Clinton surpluses back into new record deficits, with two unfunded wars, tax cuts and corporate welfare for the few richest elites and lack of oversight over financial and capital markets leading to an economic collapse. (Dick Cheney famously counseled Bush Jr that “Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter.”)

Then Obama came along and rescued us from the Bush economic free fall and could have done even more if he hadn’t faced unprecedented Republican obstruction and filibuster abuse as he tried to FIX what THEY BROKE. Despite this unprecedented obstruction, Obama has had amazing success in cutting back the size of government, reducing by 2/3 the record deficits he had inherited from Reagan/Bush/Bush with a record 84 consecutive months of job gains.

The number of federal employees under Obama was DOWN, and despite fewer federal workers, he still cut unemployment in half as those who were laid off under Bush Jr went back to work.

The only two presidents to achieve balanced budgets in the last FIFTY YEARS were Lyndon Baines Johnson (FY 1969, passed in Feb 1968, despite the costs of the Vietnam War, Apollo Space program and War on Poverty, while he had a 70% top marginal tax rate) and Bill Clinton, who had four straight surplus budgets after he passed Reinventing Government (REIGO) without one single Republican vote.

Only one more in the last 50 years has even reduced the annual budget deficit — Barack Obama — who slashed deficits every year after his first, with the cumulative total cut by more than two thirds off, to one third the amount he inherited from Bush Jr., though he never made it all the way to a surplus.

The elephants could use a few balls. Perhaps in the new year they’ll be able to get some out of storage?

Not moral deficits or deficits in credibility though.

Especially the intelligence and rational thought one in the GOP.

PERFECT!!! And, sadly TOO TRUE!!!

President Tudball says that Federal Employees are all Democrats. President Tudball says that Federal Employees support him and don’t want to get paid. President Tudball came to the the conclusion that the shutdown it all the Democrats fault.

I hope that sometime soon the gamesmanship/partisanship ends and the Democrats/Republicans stop the petty rivalry to be king of Capitol Hill and start working for We the People instead of exclusively for their political base and the wealthy. The division their rivalry causes is just dragging America further down toward 3rd world status. There ate no winners in the game they’re playing.

Anyone want to make a bet how soon after the New "Con"gress is sworn in the FIRST Republican Congresscritter starts griping about “The Deficit”??? I give it about 24 hours at the most…more like 24 MINUTES, actually…

Hopefully when the Dems take the House, sanity will prevail and the govt will be funded again.

Think of all the money being wasted on the govt shut down.

The undeclared Afghanistan war costs $225 million a day.

Meanwhile the disgusting Republican president is holding himself hostage in the WH to extort 5 billion from the American tax payer. Trump thinks like a criminal he should be removed from office.

Hey when all you have to grow demand is the Military you cannot afford butter! More guns/walls/drones, but no Health care!

False equivalency. (For example, the Democrats didn’t fight like crazy for the ACA to make anyone “wealthy”, they were concerned about the common good. Maybe there is, or was, a Republican somewhere who cares about that, too, though “common good” for a Republican is likely to be defined as “Rich people don’t have enough money”.)

Mine dropped years ago…

Dodgeball.

I wonder why the concept of ‘vote them out’ seems so alien to so many people? To pick up on the ‘political game’ motif, In a pro sports team if a player isn’t performing they are traded or contract not renewed – why not the same with the hacks in DC, and the other 50 capitals? Instead of moaning about it – get out and vote

“NOW deficits matter again!”

Does that mean that the Republicans will now vote with the Democrats to reduce them?

(Oops! I think my flight of fancy just overshot the runway.)

Now there’s a real conundrum. If the Dems pass a bill to fund Trump’s wall, they will be accused of “wasting” tax money by the Repubs.