Trump’s Budget Might Be In Big Trouble, Dems Strive For A Win In Georgia And Softening Kellyanne Conway

From a TPM Prime member: “National debt is not automatically coupled to the gold standard, but I guess in the sense that it’s easier to borrow money than to borrow gold, it is. At the time Nixon dropped it, we were in trouble with having had to pay money outside our country to OPEC for oil. The four-fold price rise made us literally poorer for a while. It took some years to percolate through the economy, and the way we financed the loss of money was debt, so eventually that strained credit supply. Thus, inflation, and the government had to borrow by selling treasuries. Paying off the debt is not inherently a Good Thing. It first reduces the budget available for spending on the country as a whole, and it mainly returns cash to the wealthy. It does not inject money into circulation. Andrew Jackson paid off the debt and we had a major recession. Of course we had a large debt after WWII, and we had high taxes to pay it down a lot, but along with that, we spent a lot on infrastructure and research/development. So the economy was not booming, but it was not in a recession. I consider the debt not as an outstanding loan, but as outstanding shares. There is no problem if the interest load (like paying dividends) fits comfortably into the budget.”

Related: Lindsey Graham Says Trump’s First Budget Is ‘Dead On Arrival’

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