Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Is the Real Driver of the Fiscal Mess

Spending, Not Tax Cuts, Is the Real Driver of the Fiscal Mess — The American, A Magazine of Ideas
"To balance the budget over the next 25 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says, would require an immediate and permanent increase in tax revenues, or reduction in spending outlays, equal to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

To put that in context, that equals a 29 percent increase in all federal tax revenues relative to historical levels.
That means not just income taxes, but payroll taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains and dividends taxes, and other sources of revenue.
And it doesn’t mean just a 29 percent increase in tax rates, but—to account for the disincentive effects of higher taxes—even higher rates so that total revenue rises by 29 percent.

That’s a pretty big deal."