GOP tax proposal is fiscally irresponsible

The tax bill recently passed by the House, as well as the one under consideration by the Senate, are fiscally irresponsible to the citizens of the United States.

The core problem of this bill is that it will add to our deficit: $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Usually governments increase spending and/or cut taxes to help stimulate the economy. It’s a measure used to help boost the economy during downturns. But we are not in an economic downturn.

In a strong economy, we should be looking to reduce our deficit, balance our budget, and start paying off our national debt.

This is the wrong time to add to the deficit.

In a Nov. 19 article by Stan Collender at Forbes.com titled “GOP Tax Bill is the End of All Economic Sanity in Washington,” he sums it up quite nicely: “There’s no economic justification whatsoever for a tax cut at this time. U.S. Gross Domestic Product is growing, unemployment is close to 4 percent (below what is commonly considered “full employment”), corporate profits are at record levels and stock markets are soaring. It makes no sense to add any federal government-induced stimulus to all this private sector-caused economic activity, let alone a tax cut as big as this one.”

The bulk of this tax cut will go to the wealthiest Americans and corporations. If we are going to spend $1.4 trillion that we don’t have, I wonder if we could find a better use than reducing taxes on the wealthy. Or, better yet, stop spending money we don’t have.

Beth D’Arcy Euclid