Through increased spending and forgone revenue, the House-passed budget resolution sets the stage for adding trillions of dollars to our nation’s already unsustainable debt.

It envisions a budget reconciliation process that would enable tax cuts adding $4.5 trillion to the national debt while calling for $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction and $2 trillion in savings from entitlement reforms. But if history is any guide, the revenue loss will be real, while the deficit reduction and savings will be largely illusory.

The resolution also includes an additional $100 billion for an already bloated Pentagon budget and $200 billion for unnecessary border spending. Meanwhile, the Senate has proposed even more spending in both areas.

This is a reminder that this package is just the beginning of the process. The Senate may amend it to reflect its priorities, and then the House will have to vote again. And that’s before any of the devilish details are hashed out. Already, there are calls that the deficit-financed tax cuts are too small to extend expiring tax provisions while also shoehorning in the President’s reckless tax proposals, such as exempting income from tips and overtime pay.

Lawmakers need to craft a package that offsets the costs of extending expiring tax provisions with additional revenue. When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took effect in 2018, the national debt stood at $20 trillion. Just seven years later, it has ballooned to more than $36 trillion and taxpayers are on the hook for $1 trillion a year in interest.

Steve Ellis
President, Taxpayers for Common Sense