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Comment by 40acres | Hacker News Reader

There has been a clear trend for decades now showing that the defecit grows under Republican presidents and shrinks under Democratic ones.

Aside from cultural issues like abortion the Republican agenda seems so far removed from what their constitancy needs it's hard to fathom.

The next time Democrats are in control you'll be sure to see GOP complaints that the defecit is a problem and entitlements should be on the chopping block.

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> The next time Democrats are in control you'll be sure to see GOP complaints that the defecit is a problem and entitlements should be on the chopping block.

They are actually doing that right now, even though they created the massive deficit increase.

That's because to them, entitlements are the problem, and the deficit is just the standard excuse.

It does makes sense from their standpoint though. In their mind, everything they want to spend money on is necessary, while everything the other party wants to spend money on is wasteful.

The missing piece of logic is that the Republicans don't actually want to fund their expenditures. Democrats may be the party of tax and spend, but Republicans are the party of just spend. The former provides back pressure to the electorate, the latter is a recipe for ruining the country regardless of your policy preferences.

https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-an...

https://www.thebalance.com/deficit-by-president-what-budget-...

It isn't a "trend".

Are those numbers adjusted for inflation? It isn't mentioned in the article. If they aren't, the conclusions are suspect.

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