WSJ On Proposed Tax Cuts

Hilton Head Island

May 11, 2025

An emotional topic for me.

The overarching question here is how do we reduce our national debt — or perhaps more precisely how do we stop increasing our national debt.

The only way to stop increasing the national debt is to not run an annual deficit.

Step one in that process is to figure out how much we need to spend. That actually isn’t that hard as most of the spending has already been determined.

Step two is to set tax rates that bring in the revenue to cover the spending. This. I agree, is a bit tricky because tax rates can influence economic activity. I think everyone will agree that the government lies to us about the benefits of tax cuts. It has no reason not to lie because those who do the lying will not be held accountable. By the time we realize AGAIN that the tax cuts did not result in the benefits promised, all we will have is a bigger deficit and more national debt.

This is a bipartisan issue. Both Democrats and Republicans lie to us. I am tired of them assuming I’m too dumb to understand.