Fiscal discipline? Not now, as GOP pushes tax cuts

WASHINGTON — Republicans relentlessly complained about big budget deficits during Democratic President Barack Obama’s two terms, but now a growing number in the GOP are pushing for deep tax cuts even if they add to the government’s $20 trillion debt.

President Donald Trump said he is pushing for “the biggest tax cut in the history of our country,” as Congress tries to overhaul the tax code for the first time in more than 30 years.

It won’t be easy. Congressional Republicans are divided over concerns about the government’s debt, and Senate rules make it difficult to pass deep tax cuts without support from Democrats, something majority Republicans are not actively seeking.

Still, the tax cutters are gaining momentum, even though neither Trump nor Republican leaders in Congress are willing to tackle the government’s long-term drivers of debt — Social Security and Medicare.

“If you want to have real tax reform and a robust economy, you have to both reduce taxes and reduce spending,” said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. “Now, if we’re not going to reduce spending, I still want to give families their tax cut.”

The push to cut taxes has picked up an important ally in Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxes.

“Franky, I think if we can get a tax reform bill that would stimulate the economy, I don’t think it has to be revenue neutral,” Hatch said Tuesday.

That’s a big difference from the way Hatch talked about deficits under Obama.

“Continued deficits and accumulated debt are a genuine threat to individual liberty, continued prosperity and national security,” Hatch said in 2011 after Obama released a budget proposal.

The national debt grew from about $10.6 trillion when Obama took office to nearly $20 trillion when he left. Some of the debt came from new spending in the aftermath of the financial crisis. But much of it was from tax cuts approved under President George W. Bush, two wars waged by Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan and mandatory spending programs initiated decades ago.

Under Obama, the annual budget deficit shrunk to $621 billion last year. That’s lower than the budget deficit in Bush’s last year in office.

House Republican leaders have been working for years on ways to overhaul the tax code without adding to the budget deficit. Their goal is to make the tax code simpler, fairer and more efficient in an effort to spur economic growth.