To the editor:
A letter in the Jan. 18 issue is wrong in asserting that tax cuts have caused the dramatic and unsustainable increase in the national debt. The real culprit is out of control government spending.
As economist Brian Wesbury pointed out this week, “Nondefense spending now consumes more than twice as much GDP as it did 60 years ago.
Its share of GDP is up 45% from just before the Great Recession, and it’s up 24% from the year before COVID. While many think all the U.S. has to do is raise tax rates, history suggests eliminating deficits this way is virtually impossible. When spending gets too high, economic growth slows, as do tax receipts.”
Unfortunately, the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats continue to welcome more government spending commitments instead of balancing their budget like the rest of us have to.
Jim Kobberstad Lake Leelanau
