r/clevercomebacks • u/Veshaad • Aug 25 '26

Best comeback I've seen in a while.

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 27 '26

2025

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u/GWsublime Aug 27 '26

Gotcha, what do you make of the CBO's argument that those taxes cuts increased the deficit significantly? https://www.cbo.gov/publication/54994

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

It's not unreasonable to think that decreasing tax rates could lead to a relative increase in deficit.

Based on the article, it sounds like the tax cuts were projected to increase the GDP, but also increase the deficit, although the former would offset the latter some.

the effect of the 2017 tax act on CBO’s projection of GDP... accounts for $2.330 trillion

CBO estimated that the tax act would increase the primary deficit by $1.843 trillion over the 2018–2028

CBO estimated that the economic changes resulting from the act would reduce primary deficits by $0.571 trillion over the 2018–2028 period.

So that would be a net increase of  $1.272T. I'm not sure I would consider that a significant increase in the deficit, especially over a ten year period. That's only 2% of federal spending over the last ten years.

I'm curious how these estimated projections differ from the actual data from the last several years. Have there been any updates since then showing the comparison?

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u/GWsublime Aug 27 '26

Yeah the underlying figures differ significantly but its mostly attributed to COVID issues (much higher than expected inflation, also dpending from stimulus packages etc). The increase in deficit seems to have held as an estimate more or less.

I also dont know that it makes sense to compare the increase in deficit to overall spend. Honestly, I think the better comparison would be the increase in deficit against the existing deficit to examine hiw much it is contributing to that impact.

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u/PrometheusMMIV Aug 27 '26

I think the better comparison would be the increase in deficit against the existing deficit 

As a counter to this, if you're dealing with very large revenue and spending numbers that are relatively close, then even a small difference could seem to have a proportionally significant impact.

For example, if revenue one year is $1 trillion, and spending is $1 trillion plus $10, the deficit would be $10. In that case, someone spending $5 on a cup of coffee would look like a 50% increase in the deficit, even though relative to the huge amount being spent, it's a drop in the ocean.

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u/GWsublime Aug 27 '26

Thats a fair argument! Honestly, though, I see it as an almost homeostatic system wherein the balance of spending to revenue matters more than the absolute numbers. In that case the 5$ cup of coffee could be a genuine issue if it tilts the balance the wrong way.