Biden Shreds Republican Deficit ‘Concern’ At Press Conference

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

After Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman predicted that the GOP "budget hawks" who had been silent during the Trump years would suddenly rediscover fiscal conservatism. And sure enough, now that Biden is president, Republicans are attacking him for increasing the United States' federal deficit.

Biden addressed GOP grandstanding about the deficit during a news conference on Thursday, pointing out that Republicans in Congress weren't worried about the deficit when they passed the costly Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017.

Biden said of Republicans, "Did you hear them complain when they passed the close-to-$2-trillion Trump tax cut, with 83 percent going to the top one percent? Did you hear them talk about that at all?"

Many Republicans in Congress have been vehemently critical of the American Rescue Plan, complaining that the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief/economic stimulus package that Biden recently signed into law will add way too much to the federal deficit. Biden, at the news conference, commented that Republicans are most likely to complain about federal spending when it benefits "ordinary people."

With a mocking tone in his voice, Biden told reporters, "I love the fact that they found this whole idea of concern about the federal budget. It's kind of amazing. When the federal budget is saving people's lives, they don't think it's such a good idea."

Here are some responses to Biden's comments that have been posted on Twitter.