McConnell finds deficit "very troubling", accuses federal spending and rejects criticism of tax cuts

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday dismissed the budget deficit as "very worrisome," while arguing that major federal spending programs were to blame, dismissing criticisms that tax cuts last year's government of China would put more debt into the country.

McConnell, in an interview with Bloomberg News, also said that there was little chance that Republicans would be able to cut government spending next year if they kept control of Congress because any change would require Democrat leadership.

McConnell (R-Ky.) Stated that it was impossible for Republicans alone to attack mandatory spending programs such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as for Medicaid, at least one chamber of the United States. Congress.

"I think it's pretty safe to say that rights changes, which are the real driver of debt, whatever the objective criterion, may be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve when you have a unified government." McConnell told Bloomberg News.

McConnell's comments come one day after the White House announced that the government had a deficit of $ 779 billion during the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an increase of 17% over the year former. Increased spending and stagnant tax revenues have added to the country's debt burden. Professional tax revenues fell sharply in the first nine months of this year as tax rates were reduced under the law.

It is very unusual for the deficit to grow during a strong economy, but White House and GOP leaders pursued policies of increased spending and lower tax rates, Trump having stated that he was trying to turn the economy around to encourage more growth.

Democrats warned in the tax cuts debate that Republicans would widen the deficit by cutting taxes and then seek to offset losses by cutting programs such as Medicaid, a health care program for poor, low-income families. revenues, and relied on McConnell's comments on Tuesday.

"Republicans in Congress are shaking up their plan to destroy the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security plans that seniors and their families rely on," he said, only months after blowing up the $ 2 trillion deficit. dollars with their tax scam for the rich, "House Minority Chief Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

Republicans have spent most of the Obama administration complaining about budget deficits, but they have largely caved under the Trump administration, supporting its proposals to increase spending and reduce taxes as part of of his program.

By some measures, the US government has a debt of more than $ 21 trillion and the aging of the population, coupled with rising health care costs and high interest payments, will result even faster growth of debt in the near future.

McConnell blamed the recent increase in the deficit to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, but these programs have not changed policy to explain the sharp increase in debt over the past two years. The most significant changes have been bipartite agreements to remove spending caps in areas such as the military and last year's tax cuts.

Last month, White House National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow told New York that the White House was planning to tackle high levels of government spending next year, but did not give More details.

"I do not want to be specific, I do not want to go beyond our own budget, but we'll get there," Kudlow told the New York Economic Club. "But I agree, we must be more difficult about spending."

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised not to remove Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid when he became president. He has largely kept his promise not to cut Medicare, but he has proposed Medicaid cuts, and his advisers have also sought to reduce social security disability spending.

However, these proposals have largely fallen through in Congress, as the White House has not announced its intention to prioritize any change, and lawmakers are often reluctant to accept conflictual political problems without the Presidency.