Grover Norquist Takes Fiscal Commission to Task

Thursday, July 1, 2010 3:55 PM

Yesterday, president of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist testified in front of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, proposing several proven ways to get back on a fiscally sustainable path. His exchange with Co-Chair Alan Simpson, was telling: Simpson was quick to criticize Norquist’s assertion that overspending, and not a lack of revenue, was the source of the current “deficit problem.” He accused Norquist of lacking the resolve to fully rectify the issue, since even if the government stopped all spending, it still couldn’t emerge from the debt it has dug for itself. This, of course, makes our point entirely.

President Obama’s budget proposal calls for $3.8 trillion in outlays in 2011. So, assuming none of that gets spent, taxpayers are still on the hook for $5.4 trillion in accumulated debt, racked up from years of overspending. So while Simpson may be correct that shunting all spending for the next year won’t “fix” the problem, he did highlight, albeit unknowingly, that government consistently outspends its means.

The

Wall Street Journal

makes this point handidly with a great graph in today's paper (above). This reiterates the statement made by Norquist to the Commission – despite the recession, tax revenues have remained fairly static, while spending has exploded. This disparity is only magnified over the next 20 years, when spending will far outpace tax receipts. Simpson would be well-advised to heed Norquist’s words: “Tax increases are what politicians do when they don’t have the gumption to actually govern.”

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