Trump and the GOP Rack up $2 Trillion in Debt, Market Continues Dive

1/3/19: President Trump wakes early, stretches his frame, wiggles his toes and ponders his busy schedule (executive playtime till 11:00 a.m. and no public events scheduled all day). He finally rises from bed and lumbers to the bathroom. There, he puts paste on his toothbrush and gazes fondly at his reflection in the mirror. His reflection gazes back—fondly, for sure—and both Trumps think: “I look great—great hairdo, beautiful orange tint, sexy jowls.”

Trump eats breakfast, watches Fox News, and plays around with his iPhone until playtime ends.

A “big, fat war in Asia.”

Unfortunately, at 11:00 top aides and cabinet members expect him to do something besides tweet. The president does have sweet letters from Kim Jong-un, the murdering despot in charge of North Korea’s repressive regime. He loves to show them to White House visitors, fanning them out on his Oval Office desk for all to see, admire and praise. In fact, Trump has just received what he says is another “great letter” from Kim, who tells him that they should get together soon.

The president is proud, because he tells everyone that if he hadn’t been such a fantastic leader there would have been a “big, fat war in Asia,” because some lunatic had threatened the North Koreans with “fire and fury” and “destruction like no one had ever seen,” and…oh, wait…that was himself.

Well, then, let’s see what else we can find in the news and see how the president is doing. The federal government remains in a partial shutdown on Day 13. And the guy who said he’d be “proud” to own it, is now insisting the Democrats own it instead, and whoever said it was going to be President Trump’s baby to burp told a foul lie. Diplomacy may be hard (to be fair it’s hard for every president—and it’s just that Trump is different because he always has to brag about how great he is). But there’s always the Midas touch he brings to the art of governing—the booming job numbers—the fabulous tax cuts—and the soaring Dow-Jones.

Damn!

Before the day is over, the Dow sheds another 660 points, extending heavy losses from the end of last year.

Well, then, the tax cuts! Those are great—and they’re not going to add to the deficit, because …

God damn! Trump took over in January 2017, insisting he could wipe out the deficit (just under $19 trillion at the time) if voters would give him eight years. Now he’s down to six left to get the job done. It’s going slower than he and Paul Ryan and Milksop Mitch promised. In fact, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the federal deficit has ballooned to $21,974,000,000 in two years, with the “fiscally responsible” Republicans in control.

So, let me check my math.

(Sound of calculator buttons being tapped.)

Yeah, the deficit is NOT going down.

You can check out the National Debt Clock for fun and watch the debt rise by $1 million every 30 seconds. (Boy, I remember when Republicans used to love to watch that clock and blame every blink on President Obama.)

You can watch and wonder what will be left for your kids’ government to spend (not much) and for your grandkids’ (nothing).

Plus, with Trump in charge, the damage from climate change will be much worse in the end.

FOR ADDITIONAL READING ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Consult the posts for 1/12/19 and 1/20/19; also the following days in 2018: 4/15; 5/17; 8/6; 9/18; 10/4; 10/11; 11/17; 11/23; 12/12 and 12/16.