John Sarbanes: “this article points out that under versions of the tax bills approved by the Tax Committees in the two Houses, the…”

“this article points out that under versions of the tax bills approved by the Tax Committees in the two Houses, the revenue loss to the Treasury would take off, starting in the year 2003 and continuing for many years thereafter. What has happened is the tax cuts have been crafted in such a way that they artificially are held down in the early years to stay within the terms of the budget agreement. But because of back loading the principal revenue impact comes in later years. Robert Reischauer, the former head of the Congressional Budget Office, said, and I quote him: . . . warns that of all the debate surrounding the House and Senate tax bills--whether the reductions are skewed too much toward the wealthy, or whether they would overheat the economy--``this is the critical issue.'' I again quote him: If the tax bill explodes, it will explode just at the time that the baby-boom generation is beginning to retire and when we will need every penny we can get our hands on to pay for Medicaid, housing, transportation, and food stamps. Moreover, many of the tax cuts contained in the two bills ``would not be easily reversible'' if the Government decided that it needed the extra revenue after all to pay for these vital programs. The figures are very stark.”