In his column “Will Georgia halt the radicals revolution?” (Nov. 11, TribLIVE), Pat Buchanan wrote, “LBJ’s Great Society is manifest today in our staggering national debt.”
So let’s look at some debt data. Lyndon Johnson did increase government spending by 13%. Since Johnson, every president has increased the debt by at least 30%. In 1969, LBJ’s last budget, the government collected more money than it spent: There was a surplus of $3.2 billion. The next time the government had a surplus was under Bill Clinton.
Ronald Reagan added $1.47 trillion in deficits and almost doubled the national debt. He did that by reducing taxes on the wealthy and increasing the defense budget. George W. Bush increased government spending, more that any of the six presidents preceding him including LBJ, with tax cuts benefiting mainly the wealthy and increases in defense spending. Bush ran a deficit every year, increasing the debt by $1.35 trillion.
Donald Trump ran a deficit of $2.47 trillion over his first three years in office. This was accomplished by tax cuts mainly for corporations and the wealthy and increases in defense spending.
We have a pattern here, Republican presidents increasing the debt by cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy while also increasing defense spending. It is as if they are deliberately trying to bankrupt our nation. They said the tax cuts would pay for themselves. They did not, but social programs like the Great Society have.
Sandra Kremer
Youngwood