Posted on 10/26/2017 7:10:02 AM PDT by Jagermonster
A SHIFT IN THOUGHT Desperate for a legislative win, Republicans are preparing to push through a tax-cut package that analysts say could add considerably to the deficit. Voices on the right expressing concern about red ink have been few and far between.
WASHINGTON—Republicans have a storied tradition of minding the nation’s fiscal store. Calvin Coolidge pushed for tax cuts, but also for spend-less-than-you-earn budgets. After World War II, the party contributed to fiscal plans that rapidly unwound a war-related surge in debt. In the 1990s, members of the GOP supported spending restraints that helped usher in a brief era of budget surpluses under President Clinton.
And as recently as 2015, as they faced off on fiscal matters against President Obama, Republicans in Congress were rallying behind fiscal plans that aimed for a balanced budget within 10 years. Yes, they wanted tax cuts, but paired with deep cuts in federal spending to reduce deficits.
Yet as the current GOP Congress takes up tax reform, there’s been a notable absence of concern about debt and red ink. Tax cuts seem to be the sum total of the Republican fiscal agenda, for now at least. The plans are accompanied by less-than-convincing assertions that the resulting economic growth will be enough to overcome any shortfall of revenues versus federal spending.
Whatever happened to the conservative deficit hawks?
In part, their decline or silence may be the latest symptom of a polarized Washington. Past instances of fiscal discipline have often involved collaboration across party lines – since tackling deficits is easiest when you have bipartisan cover.
But what’s on display is also a case of political pragmatism. Republicans know that, after failing in their efforts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, they’re in desperate need of . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Historically speaking, cutting taxes has increase federal revenue. Federal revenue increases year over year expect during recessions. Federal revenues skyrocket when the economy is going gang busters. The best way to get the economy rev'ed up is with rate reductions. The author is full of it.
I don’t care about the deficit. Obama never did and the idiot press never said word one about Trillion dollar deficits. One was closer to 2 Trillion than 1 trillion.
God forbid they allow the American Taxpayer to keep the fruits of his labor!
This is Obama’s Deficits. Ever hear anything about them? EVER?!
President Barack Obama: Total Expected Plus Actual Deficits = $6.690 trillion, a 57 percent increase.
FY 2017 - $666 billion.
FY 2016 - $585 billion.
FY 2015 - $438 billion.
FY 2014 - $485 billion.
FY 2013 - $679 billion.
FY 2012 - $1.087 trillion.
FY 2011 - $1.300 trillion.
FY 2010 - $1.547 ($1.294 trillion plus $253 billion from the Obama Stimulus Act that was attached to the FY 2009 budget).
This “fiscal hawk” issue suddenly an issue because Trump is talking about a middle class tax cut. The corportists, led by the likes of Corker, want a corporate tax cut for their big donors while giving nothing to Main Street.
This is Obama’s Deficits. Ever hear anything about them? EVER?!
K Street doesn’t want Main Street to get a tax cut. Their poddles on The Hill just follow their lead. So suddenly the corportists are “fiscal hawks.”
Every time I hear some Republican fret about paying for tax cuts I want to pop them one. Tax cuts pay for tax cuts! Just cut taxes, across the board and get the heck out of the way. Federal tax revenues will increase just like they did in the 80’s.
It falls mostly of the GOP who gave him the gas most of the years to burn down America. They didn't mind running up the debts as well when Bush was in charge.
So did the national debt. The money has to come from somewhere. There has to be cuts to .gov first. President's can promise tax cuts but they never cut .gov.
The debt increased because the democrats never enacted the spending cuts they promised and when federal tax receipts doubled under lower rates spending went even higher. The increased debt had NOTHING to do with tax cuts. Lower rates nearly doubled receipts, spending caused the deficit to grow.
Ya think you can grow faster than the .gov monster? Good luck with that. Cuts first. Then taxes.
“Deficit hawk” is misleading. Bob Dole was a “deficit hawk” who wanted to solve the deficit by raising taxes. Hell, a lot of Dems could be considered “deficit hawks” because they want to close the deficit with massive tax increases.
What is endangered are GOP SPENDING hawks. At some point during George Bush’s administration, the GOP gave up on spending restraint. John Kasich is a great example. In the early to mid 1990s, he cut or held the line on spending. Now he’s a bleeding heart “compassionate conservative.” Everyone wants to get drunk on our grandchildren’s credit card.
Raising taxes doesn’t increase federal revenues. It does the opposite.
You are ignorant of the facts. Google federal tax receipts since 1960. There are many charts and graphs. Note the periods of huge federal revenue increase. Educate yourelf or shut up.
Your living in a pre NAFTA and CHina world. 1980 onward has proven that we have designed a economy on debt spending and without cutting .gov. We can't grow out of this unless we have dramatic cuts first. We have to stop the spending now to handle the scope of the problem.
Hey. look at federal revenues in the 1980’s. You are so wrong it is funny.
Republicans only care about deficits when a Democrat is in the White House. And Democrats only care about deficits when a Republican is in the White House.
Look at the increased national debt and budget deficits in the 80’s. We vastly fed the .gov monster. We more than doubled the debt. Did we ever get the cuts? Nope.
The Obama debt explosion certainly puts deficit hawk considerations in perspective. People who advocate for a balanced budget amendment never seem to fathom the reality that such an amendment would be an engine of tax increases, nothing else.The fact is that raising taxes does indeed easily reach the point of
diminishingnegative returns. The capital gains tax - which is triggered by voluntary taxpayer action of realizing the gains - is Exhibit “A." Corporate income taxation of foreign profits is Exhibit "B.”If you want to amend the Constitution to balance the budget, your amendment should attack the spending side of the budget only, and it should have teeth that Congress will respect. IOW, it should limit current-year government spending to last year’s revenue. And exceeding that limit should penalize Congressmen. And the only way to seriously penalize Congressmen would be to impose term limits.
Of course, you also have to consider how to safely enable Congress to control spending by a lawless president such as Obama. There we had the fox in charge of chicken coop security.
>>>Raising taxes doesn’t increase federal revenues. It does the opposite.
Bill Clinton passed the largest tax increase in American history and revenues increased.
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