Remember those tax cuts?  The ones that would pay for themselves?  Reality has come home to roost.  The federal deficit has ballooned under Donald Trump.  Blame the tax cuts.  From The Associated Press:

“Tax revenues were essentially flat in fiscal 2018, while spending increased 3.2 percent as Congress gave more funds for military and domestic programs.

“Revenues generally tumbled after December when Trump signed into law $1.5 trillion of tax cuts over the next decade. The tax cuts have caused economic growth to accelerate this year with Federal Reserve officials anticipating gains of 3.1 percent. But the Trump administration initially promised that the tax cuts would pay for themselves through stronger growth — and there is no sign so far of that happening.”

Now, how to pay for those huge deficits?   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the deficits “disturbing.”  The Republicans say something must be done.  They don’t blame the trillion dollar tax cut but instead they’re aiming at entitlements, i.e. your Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  From Bloomberg:

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blamed rising federal deficits and debt on a bipartisan unwillingness to contain spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and said he sees little chance of a major deficit reduction deal while Republicans control Congress and the White House.

“It’s disappointing but it’s not a Republican problem,” McConnell said in an interview with Bloomberg News when asked about the rising deficits and debt. “It’s a bipartisan problem: Unwillingness to address the real drivers of the debt by doing anything to adjust those programs to the demographics of America in the future.”

https://twitter.com/jonlovett/status/1052211699263008768

If the Democrats were looking for fresh campaign fodder, here’s a gift from the GOP.