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Liberals should get on board

Liberals in Congress are up in arms about a plan to grant some tax relief to Americans.

The idea, by conservative lawmakers and President Donald Trump, is irresponsible, they huff.

It could add as much as $1.5 trillion to the national debt within the next decade, opponents of the plan warn.

Well, yes, it could. But it also could provide a big boost to the economy, putting more money in Americans’ pockets and growing revenue for both federal and state governments. Prosperity has a way of doing that.

Without tax relief, the economy seems doomed to remain locked in a cycle of slow growth. There are two reasons for that:

First, disposable income available to the middle class has shrunk for several years. Less money to spend means fewer purchases and less cash cycling through the economy. The tax proposal would leave more in middle-class pockets.

Second, big businesses have every reason to move operations overseas. The federal tax rate on them is among the highest in the world. The tax reform plan is to take the top rate down from nearly 36 percent to a more competitive 20 percent.

That would help small businesses, too.

It is strange that the same liberal class that for decades has dismissed concern about spending deficits would so suddenly become worried about the national debt. What, one wonders, changed their minds?

It is quite simple: The $20.4 trillion national debt has been built almost primarily on growth in government. Liberals like that.

Now, however, Trump and conservatives in Congress are talking about giving tax relief to tens of millions of Americans. That is not acceptable to the liberals.

They need to be told to get on board — or get out of the way.

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