A Bipartisan Tax Hike Won't Fix This Deficit

Talking about the need for a fiscal commission to address Washington's mountain of debt, the committee chair, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R–Texas), told Semafor, "The last time there was a fix to Social Security that addressed the solvency for 75 years, it was Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill, and it was bipartisan. It had revenue measures and it had program reforms. That's just the reality." He made these comments after some people warned that a fiscal commission is a gateway only to raising taxes.

Advertisement

I understand the worry. That's what the most recent deficit reduction commission tried to do. And while I don't believe this is what Arrington is planning, I offer a warning to the chair and to the future commission: If the goal is truly to improve our fiscal situation, as defined by reducing the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) or reducing projected gaps between revenue and spending, increasing tax revenue should be limited to the minimum politically possible.

For one thing, our deficits are the result of excessive promises made to special interests—mostly seniors in the form of entitlement spending—without any real plans to pay. The problem is constantly growing spending, not the lack of revenue and taxes. 

Ed Morrissey

I cannot stress this enough -- budget cuts to appropriations won't even touch annual deficits, let alone the national debt. We are running annual deficits of $2 trillion, and discretionary spending runs about $1.7 trillion a year now. We spend twice as much on statutory spending and now interest service on the debt, none of which comes up in the budget process. Demanding even a 10% across-the-board cut wouldn't even get $200 billion in annual savings, let alone the $2 trillion necessary to balance the total federal annual budget.

The only way to fix this is through a massive reform of "entitlement" spending -- Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and other auto-pilot spending programs. Since neither presidential candidate in this cycle will even acknowledge the problem exists, we're looking at going another four years closer to a total crash-out. 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement