Stephanie Kelton, Columnist

Democrats’ Attack on GOP Tax Cuts Misses the Point

So what if the reductions add to the deficit? They haven’t increased inflation, and that’s what matters.

October 22, 2018 at 4:00 PM UTC

Corrected

November 2, 2018 at 2:30 PM UTC

Stephanie Kelton is a professor of public policy and economics at Stony Brook University. She was the Democrats' chief economist on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and an economic adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders.

Oppose them? Yes, but be honest.
Photographer: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Unless you were in a bunker last week, you know it was a good opportunity for anyone looking to whack Republicans over the tax cuts signed into law at the beginning of this year. According to a report from the Treasury Department, the government’s 2018 fiscal year budget deficit will come in at $779 billion, up 17 percent over last year. Before long, annual deficits are projected to rise above a trillion dollars.

The blame game over these numbers will continue, with President Donald Trump adding fuel to the debate over the weekend with talk of more tax cuts. As they almost always do, Democrats are crying foul over lost federal revenue and blaming Republicans for “blowing a hole in the deficit” with their massive cuts. Republicans, predictably, insist that there is no revenue problem but rather a spending problem, mainly driven by so-called “entitlement” programs.