Dear editor:
In the Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, edition, Michael Gerson wrote "He (Donald Trump) has promised a tax cut that will, by one estimate, reduce federal revenues by $7 trillion over 10 years." I would try to find another estimate. In the first place, even the best economists in the world have great difficulty with government budgets that far into the future. For instance, what would happen if we went into a war and had to increase production of goods associated with making war? What would happen if we had an outbreak of disease that caused us to go into a major increase in manufacturing and providing health-related goods and services? What about fires and floods and other weather-related disasters? Do we have enough emergency money set by?
What we know for sure is that the national debt is at a record level now and has increased steadily over the past eight years. What is readily available is the last year that the national budget has been balanced, which is a requirement for the debt to be reduced. Given those conditions, what person in his right mind would propose anything which he might reasonably expect to provide less money to the government?
No, I say, tax cuts will not reduce government revenue. When We, the People, are allowed to keep more of our own money and make more of our own decisions, we will do more research and development, expand our businesses, invent more new products, hire more workers, buy more raw materials, pay higher wages, and etc., which will produce more occupation taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, sales taxes and income taxes (can you think of others?) to be paid into the government, which, in my estimate, will surpass any losses shown on paper and will result in a substantial increase in government revenue.
If government has the ability to balance the budget and reduce the debt, we will pay less interest on the debt and even reduce the debt, which means less government revenue will be paid out to repay money we have already spent and more will be available to provide more reasonable amounts to be spent here at home on infrastructure, health care, retirement benefits, etc.
I think tax cuts are a great idea.
M. Wayne Spencer
Hot Springs
Editorial on 01/22/2017