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Tax relief not big factor in debt

Many members of Congress who have opposed tax relief as approved by both houses of Congress insist their concern is increasing the national debt.

How reassuring that lawmakers are worried about that — finally.

It is estimated that during the next decade, the tax cuts will increase the debt by a total of around $1 trillion. That is $100 billion a year.

But look at the history of the national debt, which stood at about $5.6 trillion when former President George W. Bush took office. It was allowed to go up by about $5 trillion during his two terms, as a result of appropriations by Congress.

That was nothing, as they say. When former President Barack Obama took the oath of office, the debt was about $10.6 trillion. On his watch, as lawmakers went along with his big spending ideas, the debt shot up by about $9.3 trillion.

The debt now is more than $20.4 trillion.

In fact, as some analysts have pointed out, new debt from the tax cut is peanuts, comparatively speaking. At current spending rates, the debt is expected to go up by about $10 trillion during the next decade. Tax relief accounts for only about one-tenth of that.

Doing the math reveals that there is a lot of hypocrisy going around on Capitol Hill. The problem is not letting Americans keep more of our own money, it is spending like drunken sailors.

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