Congress’ war on math

  The congressional majority is seeking to extend expiring portions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Relative to sunsetting these tax cuts as provided under current law, the cost of their extension would be $4 trillion over the coming decade—or around $400 billion per year. But, instead of reflecting this reality, the majority is attempting to force the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) to say the fiscal impact is instead zero dollars by using a “current policy” baseline rather than the “current law” baseline that is defined in statute. This approach is unprecedented in the 50 years since the CBO was formed and Congress acted within the current budget framework.

Richard M. Ebeling: The national debt limit equals a balanced budget

  Once again the United States government is rapidly approaching a fiscal debt ceiling: After March 16, 2017, Uncle Sam will not be legally allowed to borrow any more money to cover its budget deficits, unless Congress votes to raise the debt limit, once again, like it has every time in the past.

  Uncle’s Sam’s debt has been growing at a frightening rate over the last several decades. It took almost two hundred years, from around 1790, when the government of the United States was established, to 1980 for the federal government to accumulate $1 trillion of debt through deficit spending.