Mulvaney: Economic good to offset bad

WASHINGTON — At the recent pace of economic growth, gains in government revenue will outstrip rising spending and the extra borrowing costs connected to rising interest rates, President Donald Trump’s budget director predicted Saturday.

“If we can control our expenses and grow the economy,” the government’s revenue will rise as well, and deficits will shrink, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference just outside Washington.

Commerce Department figures showed that the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized pace of 3.1 percent in the second quarter of 2017, followed by 3.2 percent in the third quarter and 2.6 percent in the fourth. Economist surveyed by Bloomberg expect growth of 2.7 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2019.

Mulvaney, a deficit hawk during his years as a congressman from South Carolina, said he was disappointed by the recent bipartisan budget deal that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would add $296 billion in spending authority over the next two years. He blamed it on “extortion” from Democrats.

The White House’s 2019 budget proposal, released Feb. 12, would sharply raise the federal deficit, to $984 billion — nearly double the projection from last year.