About to Burst

Taxes and spending will soon go crazy.

TAXES are going to go up. That’s not a prediction about what the Democratic Congress is going to do about President Bush’s tax cuts. Even if they make all of those tax cuts permanent, taxes are still going to go up – automatically, with no vote by the Congress. Spending is going to go up, too – way up. Conservatives have no plan to solve these problems. They don’t seem to be aware that the tax problem even exists.

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Taxes and spending will soon go crazy.

TAXES are going to go up. That’s not a prediction about what the Democratic Congress is going to do about President Bush’s tax cuts. Even if they make all of those tax cuts permanent, taxes are still going to go up – automatically, with no vote by the Congress. Spending is going to go up, too – way up. Conservatives have no plan to solve these problems. They don’t seem to be aware that the tax problem even exists.