Biden Claims He Has Cut Deficit - Numbers Reveal the Truth
During an interview with CNN on Thursday, President Joe Biden reiterated his claim of reducing the deficit, a statement that has been widely disputed.
Biden, while advocating for increased taxes on wealthy individuals, asserted, "We could further reduce the deficit, which I have been able to reduce."
However, fact-checking reveals that this claim is unfounded. Although Biden boasted about cutting the deficit by $1.7 trillion in 2022 and 2023, numerous fact checks have debunked this assertion.
According to Politifact, the deficit decrease was primarily due to the expiration of emergency COVID-19 spending approved in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
Even after Biden reiterated this claim during his 2023 State of the Union address, FactCheck.org pointed out that while the deficit dropped by approximately $1.7 trillion between FY 2020 and FY 2022, it remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, with FY 2022's deficit nearly 41% above that of FY 2019.
Former President Donald Trump's administration saw a deficit of $984 billion in FY 2019, before the pandemic, whereas under Biden in FY 2023, total federal expenditures rose to $6.1 trillion from $4.4 trillion in FY 2019, maintaining pandemic-era spending levels.
When Trump left office in January 2021, the national debt stood at $27.8 trillion. Presently, it exceeds $34.8 trillion and continues to escalate.
Last year's deficit reached $1.7 trillion, up from $1.38 trillion in FY 2022.
The Congressional Budget Office projects a slight drop in the deficit to $1.6 trillion this year, followed by an increase to $1.8 trillion in FY 2025.
The surge in budget deficits under Biden is attributed to substantial new spending initiatives, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in August 2022. Despite raising taxes on corporations, the IRA's "green" initiatives have proven costlier than initially estimated, with researchers revising their projections from $385 billion to over $1 trillion in costs over a decade.
Additionally, Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law in November 2021, garnering limited Republican support.
This increase in spending, coupled with rising interest payments on the national debt, has contributed significantly to the ballooning deficits. In FY 2023, interest payments amounted to $659 billion, up from $475 billion in FY 2022.
Critics argue that such fiscal policies, especially the massive spending during a period of economic recovery, have fueled inflation. This inflationary pressure has been labeled by experts as one of the most economically irresponsible policies in recent decades.
As debates on fiscal responsibility continue, many are looking to future elections and potential shifts in political leadership to address the nation's fiscal challenges effectively.