, Columnist
America Blew Almost $2 Trillion. Make It Stop.
The expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act offers an opportunity to get the federal budget under control.
Where the money could have gone.
Photographer: Brian Stukes/Getty ImagesThe US federal budget seems out of control. Funding spats and debt-ceiling standoffs routinely threaten to force defaults and shutdowns. America's once-unassailable credit rating keeps slipping. Has the government simply become too big to manage?
No, but it has been so poorly managed that one could be forgiven for reaching that conclusion. Congress must do better, and next year it will have a rare opportunity.