Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Again (and Again… and Again)
40 years of Republican deficits, and somehow they’re still selling “trickle-down.”
I apologize for the publishing delay. I took a few days off to travel with a friend—but now I’m back, and Mad Mother is very angry.
For the third time in recent days, I feel compelled to write about the Republican budget, passed in the House and now awaiting Senate approval.
Republicans are once again pushing the lie that the government must spend trillions to benefit the ultra-wealthy while slashing the very programs that support the social contract of our democracy. There are no cuts to the bloated Defense Department—the very essence of waste, fraud, and abuse—but entire social programs are on the chopping block. And, while DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) purges the agencies that serve us, defense spending marches toward $1 trillion.
Yet this budget, even with its brutal domestic cuts, would still increase the deficit by $3.8 trillion.
A Pattern of Plutocracy
A historical review of U.S. fiscal policy by party shows a clear pattern: Republican presidents repeatedly explode the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthy and unchecked military spending. Now, emboldened by Project 2025, Republicans are united in their plutocratic agenda—and they’re lying again. They’re lying when they say this budget doesn’t cut Medicare or Medicaid. They’re lying when they claim tax cuts for the wealthy will "trickle down" to help the rest of us.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Speaker Mike Johnson has the audacity to face the cameras and repeat Trump’s recycled lie: that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will unleash “tremendous” economic growth—even as every nonpartisan analyst says otherwise:
- The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the deficit.
- The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) finds tax provisions would reduce revenue by $4.1 trillion through 2034.
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) projects deficits could rise by $5.5 trillion.
It’s the same old Republican gaslighting—so let’s look at the facts.
Federal Budget Surpluses, Deficits & Party Control: 1981–2024
1981–1992 | Republicans: Reagan & Bush Sr.
“Reaganomics,”aka “triple-down” economics, was born—massive tax cuts for the wealthy and skyrocketing military spending.
The result: the national debt nearly tripled.
1993–2000 | Democrat: Bill Clinton
The 1993 deficit reduction act (passed without a single GOP vote) raised taxes on the wealthy.
Strong tech-driven growth + fiscal restraint = the first budget surpluses since 1969, peaking in 2000 at $236 billion.
2001–2008 | Republican: George W. Bush
Clinton's surplus evaporated due to 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, post-9/11 defense spending, and two wars.
By 2004, the U.S. was running a $412 billion deficit. By 2008, it ballooned to $1.4 trillion amid the housing crash.
2009–2016 | Democrat: Barack Obama
Obama inherited a $1.4 trillion deficit and the Great Recession.
Through stimulus spending and cuts to defense spending, a gradual recovery reduced the deficit to $585 billion by 2016.
2017–2020 | Republican: Donald Trump
The 2017 tax cuts overwhelmingly favored corporations and the wealthy, costing $1 trillion+ over a decade.
Deficits surpassed $1 trillion by 2019—pre-COVID.
In 2020, pandemic stimulus (with bipartisan support) pushed the deficit to a record $3.1 trillion.
2021–2024 | Democrat: Joe Biden
Biden led the strongest post-pandemic recovery in the developed world.
Despite inherited deficits and Trump-era tax policies, the deficit fell to $1.9 trillion by 2024.
Progress stalled after the GOP took control of the House in 2023.
2025 | Republican: Trump (Again)
Here we go again!
Trump wants more tax cuts for the wealthy, while military spending races toward $1 trillion.
Even as healthcare is stripped from 16 million Americans, and SNAP and housing funds are gutted, the deficit will triple.
Where Will the Wealthy’s Tax Cuts Go?
Not into wages. Not into new jobs.
But into yachts, private islands, and luxury compounds.
Meanwhile, the other 95% might afford a small piece of a rent hike, or a sliver of their disaster-inflated insurance bill—if they’re lucky.
Some won’t be able to afford food.
Some will go without health insurance.
Some will suffer—and die.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Every time Republicans claim that tax cuts for the wealthy and more military spending will boost the economy, we end up with the same result: bigger deficits, deeper inequality, and a sicker, more desperate nation. This isn’t policy. It’s robbery. And it’s time we stop pretending it’s anything else.
If you are fed up, as I am, call your Senators, and demand that they vote “no” on this monstrosity of a bill and stop throwing money at the DOD and giving tax cuts to those who don’t need it.