The truth about Trump’s economy

Hello! It’s Saturday, Sept. 26, and if you’re in the Northeast, you’re likely hunkered down inside waiting out the storm, which I like to call a captive audience. Thursday was National Horchata Day, celebrating the sweet, milky drink popular in Spain as well as Mexico and other Latin American countries. (Recipe at MuyDelish.com.) Several cuisines around the world have milky or yogurt-y drinks to offset the heat of spicy dishes: Lassi and chaas in South Asia, ayran and doogh in the Middle East, Guinness in Ireland. ;-)

The most recent Fast Forward looked back at how gently we treated each other in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy and trauma, and how far removed from that kindness we are today, led by the Hater-in-Chief. You can read it here.

You can find all past newsletters on the Fast Forward homepage. If you regularly forward FF to friends, tell them they can sign up for their own copy here.

🌞 The autumnal equinox technically arrived last Tuesday night, but for metro Boston, the closest we’ll come to equal daylight and nightlight is today: The sun rose at 6:35 a.m. and will set at 6:34 p.m. for 11 hours and 59 minutes of sunlight. Wait — what sunlight?!?

If your fall allergies are kicking up, one tip from The Old Farmer’s Almanac is to shower after working outdoors. According to the Almanac, your hair makes a wonderful hideout for mold and pollen. Note to my phlegmy visitors: Bring your own comb and pillow.

🏈 Hey, sport: The Patriots face Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars at 1 p.m. Sunday in Jacksonville (CBS, WBZ-TV) and what’s up with Drake Maye playing like a rookie again? … The Sox shifted their weekend games vs. the Cubs to accommodate the storm: They played a doubleheader at Fenway yesterday, flew to Florida, and will play the last game of the season Sunday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Their best-of-three wild-card series vs. the Yankees starts Tuesday, with all games in New York.

The Women’s Professional Baseball League’s season is over, and alas, the Hunters, Boston’s entry in the four-team league, finished last with a record of 4-11.

💰 The truth about Trump’s economy

Like everything else related to the Orange Menace, his statements about the US economy when he’s president — the best the world has ever seen — are pure fiction.

Let’s pull back the curtain of canards.

The biggie: The deficit

The annual federal government budget deficit

Don’t confuse the deficit and the national debt. The deficit is how much in the red the federal budget is at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 — in other words, how much more the government spent than it took in. The debt is simply all of those accumulated deficits.

The last time the government had a surplus was 2001, when Bill Clinton left office after delivering four consecutive surpluses. In January 2001, he handed George W. Bush a budget surplus of $128 billion, which good ol’ Georgie turned into a $1.4 trillion deficit in eight years, saddling Barack Obama with the Great Recession.

The pattern is clear: Republicans plunge us into debt with wars and tax cuts for the rich that never pay for themselves, let alone boost the economy. Then a Democrat steps into the Oval Office and works mightily to clean up the GOP’s messes. Both of Trump’s terms have followed the same pattern.

Here’s a chart tracking what the deficit was when a president started his term (in blue) and what it was when he left office (in red). In the past 45 years, every Republican has increased the deficit and every Democrat has decreased it.

Here’s what the chart shows:

Ronald Reagan - Republican

• Entered office in 1981: $79 billion deficit

• Left office in 1989: $153 billion deficit

Increased the deficit by $74 billion, or 94% in 8 years

George H.W. Bush - Republican

• Entered office in 1989: $153 billion deficit

• Left office in 1993: $255 billion deficit

Increased the deficit by $102 billion, or 67% in 4 years

Bill Clinton - Democrat

• Entered office in 1993: $255 billion deficit

• Left office in 2001: $128 billion surplus