This week, I’ve asked readers to chime in on the Bush tax cuts. This guest post is courtesy of Renee Taylor, CPA (for more on the topic, see the original post):
In the movie “Pay It Forward,” recipients of good deeds are supposed to perform a good deed for someone else rather than repay the kindness to the original giver. Our federal government is masterful at this concept, but unfortunately in the worst possible way. Rather than a good deed, it’s paying forward to future generations an unsustainable level of national debt.
It’s for this reason that I say: Let the Bush tax cuts expire, across the board, all of them.
I consider myself a fiscal conservative, but not in the semi-histrionic political sense currently in vogue. I’m in favor of balancing budgets versus kicking the deficit down the road for the next generation(s) to deal with. (And I say this from a childless person’s perspective; I don’t even personally have a “next generation.” I just think that putting off taxes til tomorrow when they could be paid today is shameful and unfair.)
Would you run your own business in such a way that it’s chronically forced to borrow just to pay the bills? What about your personal finances? Granted, many Americans do this very thing. It’s become the regrettable norm. But that doesn’t mean it’s sensible policy, neither for your household nor for the federal government.
I believe that using tax policy to stimulate the economy (and theoretically increase tax revenues through strengthened private-sector vigor) is flawed. Past tax cuts in and of themselves have not generated record revenues for the federal till. Instead, they’ve simply reduced tax revenues — and this during a time of unprecedented government spending. It just doesn’t make any sense. We can’t have low taxes and high spending and expect to remain — or even become — solvent or attractive to our creditors.
Extending the Bush tax cuts for the top two percent alone would require us to borrow billions more over the next decade. And by “us,” I mean you and me — not just the top two percent.
This issue isn’t about politics. It’s about responsibility. It’s about taking the difficult step in the right direction of returning our nation’s fiscal house to order. It’s even about (gasp!) sacrifice so that future generations of Americans aren’t made responsible for this generation’s profligacy.
Legislators, please let the Bush tax cuts expire. Stop using the tax code for short-term political goals and dubious economic incentives. Tinkering at the margins won’t get us out of this muck. It will only “pay forward” even more painful tinkering for your children and grandchildren.
I am definitely an advocate of the “Pay as you Go” philosophy, and I agree with your argument that we should be be crediting our current spending to our children. By why is that a one-edge sword? For instance, if I blow my personal budget, my first reaction is to reduce my spending–not to take a second job and increase my income. Our Federal system is completely bogged down in inefficiencies that government programs that are not Federal responsibility. Perhaps a cap on their revenues will force them to trim down some of the extraneous spending?
*should not be crediting our current spending to our children.
Rebekah,
I wholeheartedly agree that spending must be reined in, but alas I don’t think that our representatives in Congress have anything like the fortitude required to do so. I learned somewhere once about the creeping incrementalism inherent in government such that once a program is created, it’s very difficult for legislators and bureaucrats to just end it — no matter how inefficient it may be. Congressional majorities of both parties have proven time and time again their inability to cut spending. Consequently, I believe that our deficit dilemma must (for now at least) be addressed from the revenue side.
Thanks for your comment.