Congress needs to spend within its means
Absent an abrupt display of fiscal discipline, trillion-dollar federal budget deficits are here to stay, as a new report from the Congressional Budget Office makes clear.
“If current laws governing taxes and spending generally remained unchanged, the federal budget deficit would grow substantially over the next few years,” the report projects, “with accumulating deficits driving debt held by the public to nearly 100 percent of GDP by 2028.”
Troublingly, the report forecasts a budget deficit of $804 billion this year, $981 billion next year and more than $1 trillion a year through 2028. By 2028, the CBO projects, the deficit will surpass $1.5 trillion.
Notably, the CBO estimates that the recently enacted tax cuts add $1.9 trillion to the deficit over the next decade even after accounting for economic growth likely to be spurred by the cuts. While opponents of the tax cuts are sure to cite this as proof the country can’t afford them, it’s worth noting that even if the tax cuts never happened, the federal deficit would still be on track to surpass $1 trillion a year.
It’s an unsustainable course for the federal government and a discouraging one for those who value fiscal responsibility. Congressional Republicans, ostensibly from the party of limited government and fiscal discipline, have control of Congress and the White House, yet they’ve made no serious attempts to alter the trajectory of federal spending.
In fact, the tax-cut-and-spend Republicans currently in charge have only made the problem worse. They’ve lifted spending caps first imposed at the height of the tea party movement in 2011, pushed through irresponsible spending bills and abandoned even the pretense of fiscal responsibility.
Congress, the White House and the American people have to decide what kind of government they want and pay for it accordingly. The current strategy of indebting future generations of Americans for the sake of profligacy and political expediency today is untenable.
In our view, the federal government should be significantly downsized to the responsibilities as outlined in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. Toward that end, Congress should balance the federal budget and spend within its means.
— Orange County Register,
Digital First Media
In our view, the federal government should be significantly downsized to the responsibilities as outlined in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.