The Republican tax cut bill slashes taxes for the rich and the corporations. To do that, it writes a debt increase of $1.5 trillion right into the law. Some of the Republicans say that growth in the economy will pay that bill. But they don’t really believe it, and neither should we. When George W. Bush slashed taxes the rich got richer, but all the middle class got was the Great Recession.
But this is just the first part of a two-part plan. Next year, with the tax cuts firmly entrenched, the $1.5 trillion debt that is OK today will become completely unaffordable. And the tax cuts won’t be the problem. The only way to save the country from ruinous debt will be to make big cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This is not an unintended consequence. It is exactly what they are planning in the back room. They may even think they can do it without Democratic votes.
We need to stop this in its tracks. At the very least, we need to take the House of Representatives away from the Republicans in 2018. But it may be too late.