Both parties choose to ignore the problem of record federal spending and debt

One of the Republican Party’s most compelling arguments against the Obama administration was the endless stream of federal debt-fueled spending that took place under the former president’s watch.

His various economic bailouts during the thick of the recession propelled deficits and the federal debt into the stratosphere. By the end of Obama’s terms, his budgets added, by some estimates, $9 trillion in red ink.

Uncontrolled federal spending hampers the economy, drives up inflation and imposes grave financial risks for future generations. Soaring debt creates pressure for tax increases, reduce savings and makes the country less able to deal with any unforeseen crisis. Republicans rightly made all those points, even if they’ve forgotten those lessons since one of their own has controlled the White House.

The Treasury Department reported: “The federal government has spent more real money in the first seven months of this fiscal year than any other year in U.S. history,” according to Newsweek. The deficit is up by 38 percent over the same period last year, “largely due to an increase in military spending, healthcare and interest on the debt owed.” There’s no recession to blame it on, either.

Federal tax cuts further reduced revenue. We’re certainly pleased any time that the public gets to keep more of its own money and we strongly disagree with those who term such cuts as another form of federal “spending.” But it’s still irresponsible for Congress and the president to simultaneously refuse to rein in the amount of money that Washington spends.

These are eye-opening numbers. A Congressional Budget Office report suggests that by 2029, the national debt will hit 105 percent of the gross domestic product, which, according to an analysis in The Hill, is just shy of the record level set in 1946 after the devastation of World War II. That’s a red flag, but lawmakers continue to pitch costly, half-baked spending plans as if money falls from the sky.

Democrats want to increase healthcare spending with a ruinously expensive “Medicare for all” idea. Some pitch an even more ruinous Green New Deal. And Republicans are calling for dramatic increases in military spending. The president recently pledged to boost NASA’s budget “so that we can return to space in a big way.”

The president’s idea of building a Space Force would add billions to the deficit. Both parties agree that there’s a desperate need to invest in aging infrastructure — and no one doubts that an aging population will cause entitlement spending to rise.

Whenever politicians talk about paring back federal spending, they inevitably focus on minuscule cuts or reductions in planned increases. Nearly two-thirds of the budget goes to “mandatory spending,” mostly comprised of entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. More than half of “discretionary spending” heads to the military. The government also pays interest on the accumulating debt, an amount that is quickly growing.

It’s time for members of Congress to spend more time addressing this looming fiscal disaster and less time dreaming up new programs. Both parties share the blame for such spending. It would be nice, however, if Republicans — who have long carried the mantle of fiscal responsibility — spoke out about the dangers of debt spending now as forcefully as they did when Barack Obama was president.