If you ask me what Congress should do first, cut taxes or cut spending, I will say: cut taxes. Cut taxes, cut taxes, cut taxes! Slash, hack, burn.
Career politicians are almost never going to cut spending. But once in a while they can be pressured into cutting taxes . . . at least a little. Just a little bit.
Spending should be snipped too, but who will do it? President Bush says he trusts the people to spend their own money more than he trusts the politicians. But even so, he’s been either unwilling or unable to submit a budget which actually cuts spending.
Instead his budget boosts spending by 4 percent, more than the rate of inflation. And already, congressional wheeling and dealing has bumped up the baseline to almost 5 percent. Soon it will be 6 percent or 7 percent.
The so-called surplus is just too tempting for the career politicians to keep their hands off. Return the extra tax money to the taxpayers? Oh my! That would be irresponsible. Not when there’s all this pork to peddle.
My complaint is bipartisan. The Republicans are as profligate with their own favored programs and pork as are the Democrats. How can you stand up to the kid with his hand in the cookie jar when your own hand is in the same darn cookie jar? So it’s just one big non-stop Demopublican spend-fest over there in the capital.
And guess who pays the bill, my fellow Americans? Yeah, that’s right. You and me.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.