Congress Ducks the Debt Problem Again

The Senate has passed a bill raising income and investment taxes on the rich, keeping in place the new Obamacare tax on high‐​income families, extending tax credits for favored companies, extending unemployment benefits, and delaying the sequester again. In other words, as I wrote four days ago and also in August 2011:

That’s why fiscal conservatives should look very skeptically at the “fiscal cliff” and “grand bargain” proposals, most of which promise to cut spending some day—not this year, not next year, but swear to God some time in the next 10 years. As the White Queen said to Alice, ”Jam to‐​morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to‐​day.” Cuts tomorrow and cuts in the out-years—but never cuts today.

Once again, Congress and the president have demonstrated that they just aren’t fazed by a $16 trillion national debt, trillion‐​dollar deficits forever, and a federal budget that has doubled in a decade. Our Greek future still looms.