Further Debt-Financed Tax Cuts Beyond Irresponsible

For Immediate Release

Today, the House is scheduled to vote on the first of several of health-related tax cuts, which could total over $100 billion. Also today, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released a listening session framework of “Tax Reform 2.0” to House Republicans, which would extend expiring provisions from the recent tax cut bill and create new tax breaks at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

It’s amazing to think that Washington’s record debt binge still isn’t over. Thanks to massive tax cuts and spending hikes passed over the last year, we’ll be approaching permanent trillion-dollar deficits as soon as next year.

This country is drowning in red ink. It is beyond irresponsible to add even a dollar more to the debt, and anyone who cares about fiscal responsibility should dismiss further tax cuts outright.

Tax Reform 2.0 should focus on improving the initial bill by cutting more tax breaks and closing new loopholes to produce sustained economic growth. It shouldn’t be about continuing reckless borrowing into the 2030s when we can least afford it. And we certainly shouldn’t pile on new tax cuts that would only expand our near-term economic sugar high.

The further we go down this road, the more catastrophic the inevitable U-turn will be. The irresponsibility is just baffling.

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For more information contact Patrick Newton, press secretary, at newton@crfb.org.