Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Assume that Donald Trump is correct and the new tax law gives the American people the largest tax reduction in U.S. history.
That results in the greatest reduction in the revenue of the federal government. There are then only four possibilities:
• Develop other sources of revenue to offset the reduction stemming from the new tax law. However, there are no new sources of revenue available.
• Reduce government spending to offset the reduction in revenue. This is unlikely, as Trump wants to dramatically increase military spending and infrastructure investment, and congressional leaders are giving mixed signals on entitlement cuts.
• The economy will grow such that the tax revenue from will offset the reduction in revenue caused by the new tax law, This is highly unlikely.
• Increase the deficit and borrow huge amounts of money to offset the reduction in revenue caused by the new tax law. This is the almost certain result of the tax cuts set forth in the new tax law. This will cause our children and our grandchildren to pay for the tax cuts we receive today, and they will pay them with substantial interest.
In addition, given that Trump says the new tax law essentially destroys Obamacare, the cost of indigent medical care will merely be shifted to the public. The reason: To the best of my knowledge, county hospitals cannot refuse to provide care for those who cannot afford it. So county taxes would be increased to pay for that care.
