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"Madoff-level accounting fraud" - Obama economic advisor on Trump's budget

Tweet thread this evening from Seth Hanlon, former Special Assistant to President Obama for Economic Policy:

I’m not sure people truly appreciate the Madoff-level accounting fraud involved in Trump’s budget. Bear with me... 1/

The fraud here goes beyond “rosy” forecasts. It even goes beyond “voodoo economics”–the debunked theory that tax cuts pay for themselves. 2/

The Trump team proposed a $5.5 trillion tax cut just four weeks ago AND COMPLETELY LEFT IT OUT OF THEIR BUDGET. 3/

But wait – it’s actually worse than that. Not only is the $5.5 trillion cost of the tax cuts not included in the budget numbers… 4/

But the Trump budget claims $2 trillion in ADDITIONAL revenue from economic growth RESULTING PRINCIPALLY FROM THOSE TAX CUTS. 5/

So in other words, they are claiming that tax cuts WILL PAY FOR THEMSELVES—something no credible economist believes—AND THEN SOME. 6/

My former colleague @GregLeiserson predicted this double-counting, here: http://equitablegrowth.org/tax-finance/will-t...-asterisk/ … 7/

Bears repeating: Trump budget claims that the tax cuts, whose cost is est. by @BudgetHawks at $5.5T, will actually INCREASE rev. by $2T. 8/

So this is not a $2 trillion “magic asterisk.” THIS IS A $7.5 TRILLION LIE. 9/

It’s obvious why they’re hiding the cost of tax cuts. 10/

Putting $5.5T in tax cuts for wealthy ppl & corps alongside ~$4T in cuts to progs serving low & middle-income people wld not be popular. 11/

Nor would it be seen as fiscally responsible. 12/

So they brazenly just disappeared the tax cuts, allowing them to claim that the program cuts are “tough choices” for deficit reduction. 13/

These are savage cuts to Medicaid, to Social Security disability, to nutrition, to student aid, to people & communities left behind. 14/

In sum, this is the Bernie Madoff Budget. A massive accounting fraud, designed to fleece vulnerable people. 15/15


ALMOST FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART-You can help fight Trump's budget by sharing how cuts affect you. #HandsOff
https://handsoff.org/

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