By Lisa Mascaro
October 5, 2017
Not long ago, Paul D. Ryan stood before charts and graphs as the House Budget Committee chairman like a new Ross Perot, promoting an austerity plan that slashed taxes and spending, and warning of the dangers of deficits. “The facts are very, very clear: The United States is heading toward a debt crisis,” he said then. “We face a crushing burden of debt which will take down our economy, which will lower our living standards.” Now as House Speaker, the Wisconsin Republican is undergoing a role-reversal, championing President Trump’s tax cuts, which promise massive tax cuts for corporations and, to some extent individuals — and which experts say will add some $2 trillion to the nation’s red ink over the next decade. Republicans are racing to assemble Trump’s tax package, which remains more conceptual than actual legislation, at a time when the nation’s debt load has topped the eye-popping level of $20 trillion. For Trump, who routinely leveraged borrowing to expand his real estate empire and declared on the campaign trail that he loved debt, a tax plan that expands the government’s deficit may be no problem.
During a recent White House meeting, Trump boasted to lawmakers from the tax writing House Ways and Means Committee that the country’s economic growth could hit four, five, even 6% under his tax plan, which administration officials say would more than cover lost revenue and even reduce the deficit. But, the lawmakers asked, what if growth isn’t so strong — most mainstream economists doubt it will be — what’s Plan B for making up the deficit shortfall? For that, there was no clear answer, said those who attended. During a recent White House meeting, Trump boasted to lawmakers from the tax writing House Ways and Means Committee that the country’s economic growth could hit four, five, even 6% under his tax plan, which administration officials say would more than cover lost revenue and even reduce the deficit. But, the lawmakers asked, what if growth isn’t so strong — most mainstream economists doubt it will be — what’s Plan B for making up the deficit shortfall? For that, there was no clear answer, said those who attended. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) hung a debt clock in his office — even before photos of his kids — after he was elected. Now, he worries that his colleagues may put aside concern over deficits. “I didn’t want to forget that is the main issue here that I came to solve,” said the libertarian-leaning congressman. “I may very well be alone. Part it is the zeal for the deal on tax reform, and people are willing to hold their nose. ... Because we’ve done nothing else.”