CNN’s fact checker Daniel Dale pushed back on President Biden’s recent claim that his policies had helped reduce the federal deficit — revealing that an expert told him that Democrats’ claim “in a misinterpretation of the situation”. Almost bizarre world”.
“Let me remind you again: I have reduced the federal deficit,” Biden said in a speech last Wednesday. “All the talk about the deficit from my Republican friends, I love it. I made $350 billion less in my first year in office.”
Biden boasts of his administration’s economic track record – despite sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers who argue his policies have contributed to spurring inflation and pushed the US economy to the brink of recession Is.
During a Monday appearance on CNN’s “New Day” and in a separate article, Dell noted that the federal deficit did indeed decline during fiscal 2021. However, the fall in losses was expected to be even higher than the figure originally referenced by Biden.
Dale said economic experts “still scoff at the idea that President Biden is personally responsible for bridging the deficit.”
“In fact, Mark Goldwyn of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocate of deficit reduction, told me that this claim is almost a bizarre world, the reverse of reality,” Daniel said.
While the deficit fell to nearly $360 billion in fiscal 2021 — a period that included Biden’s first eight months as president — the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office initially predicted a decline of $870 billion. By that measure, he said, the president has fallen short of expectations.
Dell noted that Biden-backed legislation such as the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” COVID-19 stimulus package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill focused on physical projects contributed to the disparity.
“Whatever you think about all those policies – they all cost money,” Dale said.
Dan White, another Moody’s Analytics expert, told CNN that “the actions of the administration and Congress have undoubtedly resulted in higher losses, not smaller ones.”
“It is encouraging that the Administration has proposed some initiatives to reduce the deficit, but so far none of these initiatives have been seriously considered,” White said.
Dell noted that much of the reduction in the federal deficit can be attributed to expired COVID-19 relief programs.
CNN Fact Checker said Biden was accurate in his claim that the deficit widened under the GOP leadership – noting that it grew every year under the administration of former President Donald Trump.
,
