Posted on 08/12/2016 4:41:01 AM PDT by Kevin C
Donald Trump appeared to change his stance on the federal debt Thursday, saying that, with interest rates low, the U.S. should borrow money to spend on infrastructure rather than lowering the $14 trillion federal debt.
"This is the time to borrow," the Republican candidate said in an interview on CNBC Thursday morning.
"Normally, you would say you want to reduce your debt, and I would like to reduce debt too," Trump said, before explaining that "the problem is you have a military problem, you have an infrastructure problem — a tremendous infrastructure problem, and you have other problems. And also, the asset is your rates are so low."
Trump's campaign has previously stated implausibly ambitious goals for reducing or outright eliminating the federal debt. Trump has also, however, muddied the waters with ambiguous statements about refinancing or renegotiating the debt.
On Thursday, he struck a much less hawkish tone on federal deficits and spending, suggesting that the U.S. needed to spend more than $500 billion on new infrastructure.
Congressional Republicans have sought to move the government in the other direction, proposing budgets to balance the budget within 10 years and begin reducing the federal debt.
Of course the most important key fact is left out. He’s not talking about government spending, he’s talking about an infrastructure bond fund, i.e. private investors with private money. And, if you are worried about your borrowing costs, then it is indeed time to do financings.
He will just executive-order the debt into cyberspace.
Let’s see... more debt, more spending and “re-building our roads and bridges”... Where have I heard that before?
Oh yeah... Any speech by a Democrat...
Borrow. Spend,
Make America Great Again.
Stop it, Donald!
Don’t even think about adding to that $20 trillion. Instead take a meat axe to all agencies of the central socialist government and slash, slash, slash! Eliminate all the alphabet soup agencies that contribute to America’s failure, like the EPA, Energy, Education, etc. etc. etc.
You’re talking like a Democrat now! Drastically reduce the needless bureaucracy that has wrapped itself around America’s neck like a millstone.
Let Hillary plot and plan to drive us deeper into debt.
Are these projects gonna be shovel ready?
Hillary will use the treasury to reward her supporters just like Obama did. Her people have paid to play. Promises have been made. They expect to play. Something to think about.
Oy
What if this is a tactic to take away one of Hillary’s mere 3 economic planks? The interest rates will rise eventually anyway, so do some while you can. And he can say he’ll do it better than the Obama Pork-ulus.
Next forgive a portion of Federal student loans, which were rigged, as long as you end the Federal program forever.
Then say all her other planks are state decisions: abortion, gay marriage, minimum wage, wind farms, policing.
I guess I’d look at it from a standpoint of what the effect of current interests rates are now. Would it be preferable to refinance your home loan, or use your cash and borrowing at generous terms to do other things?
My inclination would be to ‘refinance’ the debt at a better interest rate. To me this frees up money that comes in which is already sequestered for debt service, in effect increasing the spendable income government gets from taxes. Alternatively, I guess one could rationalize that taking the realized increase due to refinancing and channel it into some purchase that has tangible value.
Infrastructure spending is a job creator by swapping debt for asset...as a businessman, Trump understands this concept. The bulk of Obama’s deficit spending went up in smoke...failed green energy companies, corporate bailouts,Obamacare and increased social and unemployment payouts. By increasing the GDP and lowering the debt-to GDP ratio, he will make America great again and generate the wealth to start tackling the federal debt.
But no, I don’t like it. But as a tactic to keep the Crime Family out of the WH, brilliant?
Spend. Debt. Yay.
So private investors with private money will rebuild the bridges and the interstate and rebuild the airports? Why aren't they doing that now? How do they get repaid?
Good thinking...money spent wisely, alongside large tax cuts will invigorate the economy massively.
$14 trillion debt? Who paid off the other $5 trillion plus?
A 20% import tariff would raise $500B/yr all of that could go to infrastructure spending and also promote domestic industry and repatriation. It is how the founders would handle this.
The demented one will have the treasury to work with.....for what that’s worth today.
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