The article discusses the implications of President Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill circulating in Congress, focusing on federal borrowing and taxation. It critiques how conventional measurements obscure the reality of federal spending cuts that may not be sufficient. It highlights that while the bill extends previous tax cuts to avoid economic downturns, it also introduces new cuts that benefit a broader demographic rather than just the wealthy. The projected federal spending is expected to increase significantly, raising questions about fiscal responsibility.
As the "big, beautiful" bill moves through Congress, one legitimate concern is the future course of federal borrowing - except that Washington's standard ways of looking at taxation and spending do more to confuse than clarify the key issues.
Yes, you'll hear endless wailing about the bill's "savage spending cuts" in order to "pay for" tax cuts "for the rich," even as it supposedly accelerates Uncle Sam's borrowing - but claims rely exclusively on how all this gets measured.
The truly new tax cuts here are the ones Trump campaigned on: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime pay and so on - none of it a "tax cut for the rich."
With the hated "cuts," that figure drops to . . . $88.1 trillion. In yearly terms, that's "only" a 40% increase over the gigantic $7 trillion 2024 outlay, instead of a 50% rise.
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