Roskam delivers economic time bomb

My congressman, Peter Roskam, has bet his re- election to a seventh term on the gigantic tax cut he helped author and shepherd through Congress. His 2018 campaign is a virtual 24/ 7 touting of the simplified tax code returning about $ 1,400 to an average 6th District family. But before thanking Ros- kam with his vote, any constituent should ponder well what will never appear in the Roskam campaign.

The new postcard- sized 1040 form that Trump kissed in appreciation becomes more complicated for those itemizing from the six new worksheets needed to itemize.

But the big fib about simplification pales to the economic time bomb Roskam has saddled us with. Dropping his career- long railing against excessive debt, Roskam will help spike our debt by $ 2.3 trillion over the next decade, raising the debt percentage of Gross Domestic Product from the current 78 percent to 100 percent. Domestically, this level of debt increases the likelihood of a fiscal crisis, giving Congress limited options to deal with major events such as another recession. Internationally, debt that staggering imperils our global power and influence by discouraging foreign investors lending us the money needed to fund spiraling debt.

Roskam will never reveal his huge corporate tax cuts are permanent, while the individual cuts go primarily to the already wealthy and expire in 10 years.

Roskam has spent his years in Congress exploiting a manageable debt to prevent expansion of health care to the needy, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, or any other societal benefit. But to retain office in what looms as his first truly serious challenge, Roskam has wiped clean the slate of fiscal integrity, embarking on a perilous economic future. Walt Zlotow, Glen Ellyn