Carolyn Bourdeaux Op-ed: Republicans talk about the national debt. It’s up to progressives to fix it.

Republicans talk about the national debt. It’s up to progressives to fix it.

By Carolyn Bourdeaux

In 2017, when I began my first campaign for Congress in Georgia, I sat down with a room full of passionate young people to draft a policy platform. I ran through the issues: affordable healthcare, public education, voting rights, social justice. Everyone nodded and took notes. Then I said, “Fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget.”

The energy in the room went cold. One friend finally spoke up. “That’s only something Republicans care about when they want to block Democratic priorities.”

I put it in my platform anyway. But I understand their perspective.

Whether you agree or not, this is how Democrats see the debt debate: For 25 years, Republicans have passed one deficit-financed tax cut after another — the Bush cuts, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will add roughly $4 trillion to the debt. Then, when Democrats propose universal pre-K or expanded health coverage, the deficit hawks seem to reappear on cue: “we can’t afford that!” Further, most Democrats suspect that it is really large corporate interests that are pulling the strings – a position increasingly adopted by the populist wing of the Republican party as well.

Read Carolyn’s full Op-Ed on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website.