'Getting rid of math': GOP pretending Trump’s corporate tax cuts won’t increase deficit by $4 trillion

10 December 2024

President-elect Donald Trump and his GOP allies are determined to extend the corporate tax cuts that were enacted in 2017 during his first term.

Many Republicans have been downplaying the effect that doing so would have on the United States' federal deficit.

But according to Washington Post opinion columnist Catherine Rampell, they are ignoring the math involved.

Rampell, in her December 10 column, argues, "The GOP's first order of business: getting rid of math. The fractious Republican Party can agree on few things these days. But one of them is near-unanimous frustration with the pesky laws of arithmetic. That cutting future taxes would reduce future tax revenue, for instance, perpetually aggrieves them."

Republicans who favor extending the corporate tax cuts, according to Rampell, are ignoring how much it will increase the federal deficit.

"A large chunk of the 2017 Trump tax cuts expires next year, and extending these provisions will be extremely expensive," Rampell explains. "That's why Republicans scheduled them to sunset in the first place: to lower the price tag. The Congressional Budget Office, the legislature’s official scorekeeper, estimates a full extension would add more than $4 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade."

The Post columnist adds, "That's true even after considering any potential growth effects on the U.S. economy. It might also understate the full cost of GOP tax plans, since it doesn't include Trump's other pricey promises: slashing corporate taxes, eliminating taxes on Social Security, overtime and tips. Those would add trillions more in red ink — awkward for a party that fancies itself fiscally responsible."

Catherine Rampell's full Washington Post column is available at this link (subscription required).

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