McConnell Calls National Debt ‘Very Disturbing,’ Blames ‘Bipartisan Reluctance’ to Tackle Entitlements

McConnell Calls National Debt ‘Very Disturbing,’ Blames ‘Bipartisan Reluctance’ to Tackle Entitlements (The Washington Free Beacon)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) called the $21 trillion national debt and ballooning budget deficit "very disturbing" in an interview Tuesday, blaming "bipartisan reluctance" to embrace entitlement reform.

The U.S. budget deficit expanded to $779 billion in fiscal year 2018, the Treasury Department announced Monday, a $113 billion jump from the previous year and the worst number since 2012. CNBC reported the budget shortfall amounted to 3.9 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.

Bloomberg's Kevin Cirilli read out the numbers and asked McConnell simply, "What's going on with the debt?"

"It's very disturbing, and it's driven by the three big entitlement programs that are very popular: Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid," McConnell said. "That's 70 percent of what we spend every year."