Editorial: Beware whirlpools of red ink

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006 | 7:59 a.m.

After comparing the rate of federal spending with the loss of revenue caused by President Bush's tax cuts, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office came out with a bleak report last week. It shows the federal deficit for the current fiscal year will be about $360 billion by Sept. 30.

And Treasury Secretary John Snow has warned that the federal government will reach its debt limit of $8.2 trillion by mid-February, according to The Washington Post.

What this means is that Congress will certainly renew a drive begun last year to enact spending cuts on social programs. Only this time cuts will likely be more severe than last year, when $50 billion worth of cuts were proposed in health care, student loans and other programs depended upon by millions of Americans.

The budget office report said solvency could be achieved by 2012, but only if Bush's tax cuts are not renewed. If the president's politically motivated relief for wealthy Americans is made permanent, the country's safety nets for poor, elderly and disabled people will be further weakened, and middle-class Americans will see their services reduced as well. We will also see Democrats and Republicans bogging down Congress with bitter, protracted budget battles.

For our current generation, and the generations coming up, Bush's tax cuts should be shown the door.