For the moment, let’s set aside the issue of fairness with regard to tax reform – whether it benefits the middle class or amounts to a giveaway to the wealthy – and focus on what it’s supposed to do: ramp up the economy.

Tax reform proponents say it will unleash the full economic might of the American economy. More economic activity is supposed to generate revenues that help offset the cost of the tax cuts – $1.4 trillion over a decade – which will get heaped onto a national debt currently at $20.5 trillion and growing.

Historically, tax cuts are pondered in a revenue-neutral setting, meaning the projected increase in economic activity is paired with spending reductions to assure that we aren’t just tacking more money onto the national debt. Otherwise, what’s the point of paying fewer taxes? If the extra money in our pockets is consumed by inflation – rising interest rates to service the debt – we’re no better off. Lower tax rates can promote growth, but higher debt can stunt it.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.