Downstream indeed!

Shawn Vestal’s column, “Cheers for tax cuts overlook downstream effect” (Jan. 9), celebrates the momentary glow provided by tax cuts, as well as the magical effects (more jobs, rising wages, increased investment in America) said cuts are deemed certain to provide, economic history be damned. It then questions whether the cuts will actually happen, citing conformance between federal and state tax collections as one significant reason they may not.

A larger and studiously ignored downstream effect is the steady growth of our national debt (see usdebtclock.org for the grisly details). We allow Congress to continue to spend money it doesn’t have, adding to our debt of over $20 trillion, of which approximately 7 percent is currently required just to pay interest on the debt, dead money for which there are far better uses.

Many congressional politicians like to pretend that tax cuts coupled with no spending decreases are good for everyone and that a huge national debt is no big deal. Their kick-the-can coping mechanism is annual hikes in the debt ceiling. Sadly, our national refusal to take the long view plays right into their hands.

David Fietz

Springdale