Operation Deimos

The president’s spending outline for the first time acknowledges that the Republican tax overhaul passed last year would add billions to the deficit and not “pay for itself” as Trump and his Republican allies asserted. If enacted as proposed, though no presidential budget ever is, the plan would establish an era of $1 trillion-plus yearly deficits.

In a new polling memo, the Center for American Progress Action Fund argues that this is a fight Democrats should want to have. The memo points out that social programs poll extremely well and that we’ve seen recently how much GOP attacks on those programs motivate voters. Health care was a central issue propelling Democrat Ralph Northam to victory in the Virginia governor’s race in November, and the Republicans’ attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act produced a huge backlash in large part because of the millions of Americans they wanted to toss off Medicaid.