Nighttime Must-Read: James Pethokoukis: The Disappointing Unseriousness of the House GOP’s Budget

James Pethokoukis: The Disappointing Unseriousness of the House GOP’s Budget: “The GOP wants to lower tax rates and broaden the tax base. No specifics, but… [the] formula devised by Paul Ryanhave been scored as massive revenue losers…

…This new plan just assumes tax revenue as a share of GDP stays steady. Seems unlikely…. But the biggest problem with the House budget isn’t faulty math but a faulty premise. House Republicans apparently believe the federal debt is at unsustainable levels, needs to be reduced ASAP, and eventually eliminated… that the federal debt is America’s biggest problem. But where’s the evidence? Low interest rates are hardly signaling investor alarm. And… our currency is the world’s reserve…. The big economic danger… is chronic slow growth from having to sharply raise taxes if we don’t restructure entitlements in a way that promotes savings and work… along with trimming tax breaks for the wealthy. If there is a good economic reason for actually paying off the national debt–much less making it a key goal–I am unaware of it.

March 18, 2015

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