Originally Posted by
Ma'ake
You're right about the traditional wants of the parties, and how they flip roles depending on who's in power. It's a major reason people check out of politics, especially Millennials. It's all a cynical game show, to them.
But on the deficit / debt, remember that most of deficit spending under Obama was done in an economy that was (at least initially) in free fall, with a recovery that has been pretty anemic, especially on the jobs front (much like W's "jobless recovery" was before).
Excluding all the political noise, we're going to be adding additional deficit / debt on top of the existing deficit / debt baseline... when the economy is at full employment, the stock market at record highs, etc. I've heard very few economists (outside Wall Street) who thinks this is a good idea, except Arthur Laffer (who blames what happened in Kansas on falling agricultural prices).
It seems like the Republicans are in such a frenzy to score a big win, nothing can penetrate their echo chamber... or, it's possible Senators like McCain / Collins / etc are counting on the afterglow to wear off when the bill goes to conference, and more light is shown on the analysis, with debt hawk conservatives in the House potentially threatening passage of the revised bill out of conference. (I give the 2nd scenario about 20% chance of being correct).
When the cold weather rolls in, the corporate rate is written in stone, which will force sizable cuts in SS & Medicare, healthcare research, etc, and possible boosts to taxes on the middle class, all of which will be political poison, rushing us toward a legitimate monetary crisis. (Just because we haven't got there under W, then Obama, and after one year of Trump, doesn't mean it will never, ever happen... unless Trump decides to use a nuclear attack as a giant cover to exonerate his reign.)