When Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, I proudly cast my vote in favor. I supported those tax cuts then, and I support making them permanent today. I also support the newly proposed tax cuts that appear in the budget bill, such as no tax on tips.
But the House-passed version of the budget bill also includes a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling, which should serve as a blinking warning light indicating that out-of-control spending will continue. If Congress fails to address its reckless spending, it is only a matter of time before an avalanche of calamities falls, including an inevitable future tax increase. To unleash the full dynamism of America’s free enterprise system, Congress should extend the tax cuts without a multitrillion dollar increase in the debt limit.
The 2017 tax cuts were not some abstract, theoretical economic exercise. They let workers, families and small businesses keep more of what they earn. Congress doubled the standard deduction, lowered individual and corporate tax rates and provided key incentives for investment.
The tax cuts helped produce historically low unemployment, increase wages and strengthen small businesses. The economy responded exactly as free-market advocates have long argued: Lower taxes support an environment in which the private sector thrives, jobs are created and innovation accelerates. Americans were better off because they, not the government, determined how to spend a greater share of the money they earned.
