The argument made by some that tax cuts will "starve the beast" is looking dumber and dumber. As David Wessel observed in this morning's WSJ:
There are two competing visions of government. The tax-more and spend-more approach sees bigger government as popular and prudent. The cut-taxes and cut-spending approach sees smaller government as popular and prudent. Either adds up. A third doesn't: The current approach of cutting taxes and increasing commitments to spend into the future.Bush continues to shovel money into Leviathan's gaping maw. Although Bush keeps talking about limiting growth in discretionary spending to 4% a year, discretionary appropriations actually increased by 12% percent from fiscal year 2002 to fiscal year 2003. Granted, part of that is attributable to the war on terror, as military and homeland security appropriations grew 17%, but non-defense discretionary appropriations grew by 8% - double what the President says he wants. (Data here.) Now we're going to throw more fuel on the fire with the biggest new entitlement program in decades in the Medicare bill, which will cost at least $400 billion over the next ten years (and such estimates always are too low). How can any serious person believe that this orgy of spending will ever lead to budget cuts down the road?
