Donald Trump’s plan to cut the federal budget deficit took a blow Thursday at the Fox News Republican debate in Detroit.
Trump claimed he would eliminate the federal budget deficit by cutting massive “waste, fraud and abuse,” as well as Common Core in the Department of Education and the “Department of Environment Protection.” (Presumably Trump means the Environmental Protection Agency.)
Fox News’ Chris Wallace pointed out that the combined budgets of those two agencies only accounts for 16 percent of the deficit. Trump responded that he would negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to cut government costs.
At the ready, Wallace pointed out the government only spends $78 billion on drug costs in Medicare. Even if that were totally eliminated, along with the EPA and the Department of Education, only 30 percent of the budget deficit would be closed.
That’s under current law. Trump’s tax plan would increase the budget deficit by more than $10 trillion over a decade. That’s because of a huge tax cut, to be fair, but the consequences for the budget deficit can’t be denied. Trump’s debate performance shows he’s doesn’t know a lot or maybe isn’t that serious about cutting the size of government.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
