Tax overhaul effort begins with budget plan debate

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans on Wednesday kicked off debate on House and Senate budget plans that promise slashing cuts to social programs — but whose real purpose is to grease the skids for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code.

The companion GOP budget measures differ in key respects, but both rely on rosy estimates of economic growth and spending cuts that promise to wrestle the federal budget back into surplus within a decade.

The real-world trajectory of Washington, however, is for higher deficits as Republicans focus on tax cuts, a huge hike in the defense budget and a growing disaster aid tally that is about to hit $45 billion.

Their appetite for spending cuts is limited to nonbinding promises, and even a token 10-year, $200 billion spending cut package demanded by tea party House Republicans appears likely to be scrapped in upcoming talks with the Senate.

“The train’s left the station, and if you’re a budget hawk you were left at the station,” said Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.

Instead, the motivating force behind the budget measures is the Republicans’ party-defining drive to cut corporate and individual tax rates and rid the tax code of loopholes. They promise this tax measure will put the economy into overdrive, driving economic growth to the 3 percent range and adding a surge of new tax revenues that would help bring the budget toward balance.