As the election approaches, Congress abandons all pretense of fiscal responsibility, voting tax cuts that would drive 10-year deficits past $3 trillion.
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Last week Congress gave taxpayers a hefty present — $146 billion in tax cuts. Instead of financing the tax cuts with equal cuts in spending or offsetting revenue increases, Congress just put the tax cuts on the nation's credit card.

Before the tax cuts, sure to be signed by President Bush, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the national debt would grow more than $2 trillion over 10 years. With the tax cuts, the debt will grow by more than $3 trillion — even in the unlikely event that Congress enacts all the spending limits proposed by the Bush administration.

Taken alone, outside the context of the federal budget disarray, the tax cuts are reasonable and welcome: The $1,000 annual child tax credit would be extended through 2009. Marriage penalty relief would be good through 2008. The expanded 10 percent tax bracket would run through 2010.

Alternative minimum tax relief for middle-class families would carry over one more year. Refundable child tax credits for low-income families would be accelerated for another year, helping those who need it most.

Several tax credits for business research, development and investment also make sense in a competitive world.

But the tax cuts cannot be taken out of context. For every additional dollar the government lets taxpayers keep, the taxpayers will have to pay much more in principal and interest. The total payback could be compounded if the rising deficits slow the economy and therefore reduce government revenues. Following tradition, the government has budgeted no money for war-fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan — costs that will further swell the deficits, threatening economic growth.

The folly of Congress' tax and spending policies can be seen in the arbitrary time periods for the tax cuts: one year, four years, etc. A prudent tax policy would set rates as low as possible and leave them there, giving families and businesses predictability and relative simplicity.

Commentary:
So far Bush and his republican congress have created over $1.6 trillion of debt. Never before in US history has a party been as morally bankrupt as this one. Borrowing money and giving it away is immoral. The Chronicle should have had the integrity to demand that republicans be responsible for once in their lives. Instead, they cower to the right wing nuts and state vague nothingness about what might happen.

When we had surpluses they gave us a tax cut because "it's your money." When we had a recession they gave us a tax cut to "stimulate the economy", and now they're giving us a tax cut to "buy our votes." In Bush's world, when reality comes crashing down on you, simply change that reality. You get a tax cut no matter what happens. It's called pandering.