Deficit and spending crisis? That was last week

 

If you haven't kept up with the recent news, for months the GOP rabble rousers in the House of Representatives were grousing and complaining about how big the USA's budget deficit was (is), and they used the threat of economic catastrophe to force some modest (ultimately) budget cuts and slower budget growth in lieu of setting the world economy on fire.

Plenty of GOP senators were on record, sanctimoniously, about how bad the budget deficit was, despite voting for irresponsible tax cuts proposed and promoted by the previous Presidential administration.  This was totally expected, as Republicans only get concerned about how big the deficit is and how much domestic spending needs to be cut when there's a GOP-controlled Congress and a Democratic President.

All of that has been said before.  And so they, the righteous GOPers, got the deal (and not much out of it, thanks to some savviness on the Presidential side), and proceeded to ...

what? propose legislation that would add substantially to the budget deficit?

Of course they did.

With debt debate finished, House GOP unveils new bills to cut taxes

“It’s Republican clockwork. Not even a week after their manufactured default crisis and it is back to tax cuts for the wealthy and well-connected,” charged Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee. The congressman also faulted the GOP for trying to repeal clean energy-focused policies at a moment when “Americans are sheltering inside to avoid the fallout of climate-spurred wildfires.”

Let's add some more to that. I'll underline a couple of things. 

"In reviewing the legislation, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the three GOP bills together would add about $21 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years. But some budget experts said that figure tells only part of the story, since Republicans relied on a series of timing and accounting maneuvers to create the impression of a low price tag."

For one thing, the three bills extend Trump-era tax breaks targeting businesses only through 2025, even though Republicans have said they hope to make them permanent. During that period, the GOP plans actually add about $300 billion to the federal deficit, much of which they offset through the repeal of climate-focused tax credits that aren’t scheduled to take effect until 2027.

To that end, the Tax Policy Center concluded in its own recent analysis that these business provisions alone could cost the government about $500 billion over the coming decade if they are extended indefinitely, as Republicans seek."

The GOP.

Being the GOP.

Again and again and again.