Everything you read here is, as we nonfiction scribes like to say, a true fact. In the fine tradition of “trust, but verify,” I am including web links to source documents. Of course, these sources themselves may be suspect. And there are lots of “true” facts out there, so my selections likewise may be biased or incomplete. If you feel they are, please provide me with your own data points and sources, and I’ll share them in a future Ask Phil. We need not be in a rush here; Election Day is still more than three months away.
Looking at the overall impact on the federal budget and deficits, Trump’s pledge of lower taxes would take our current lake of red ink and turn it into an ocean, according to an assessment by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
After 10 years of their respective policies, the national debt under Trump would have risen from $19 trillion today to more than $39 trillion by the year 2026. It would become a smaller sea under Clinton, but still would soar by more than $10 billion to more than $29 trillion.
The Tax Policy center took a narrower look at just the candidates’ planned tax changes. Clinton’s planned tax increases would trim $1.2 trillion off the national debt over 10 years, while Trump’s deep cuts would increase the deficit by $11.2 trillion.
