Read this editorial in today's Washington Post for a quick and straightforward discussion of why President Bush's two additional tax cut proposals (that haven't taken effect yet) are unnecessary. These two tax cuts, which begin to phase in next year unless Congress acts, would go to the 4 percent of U.S. households with annual incomes of over $200,000, and would reduce government revenue by over $200 billion. The column asks the right question: given the growing record deficits and uknown future costs of war endeavors, "Why does President Bush think this tax break is necessary?"

This week the General Accounting Office released "21st Century Challenges: Reexamining the Base of the Federal Government." The report is intended to help Congress in reviewing and reconsidering the base of federal spending and tax programs. The beginning of the report includes a statement from Comptroller David M. Walker. Walker mentions our nation is on an unsustainable fiscal path, and in order to solve our problems and restore fiscal flexibility, "a fundamental reexamination of major spending and tax policies and priorities" is necessary. A Congressional Budget Office report issued this week attempts to provide Congress with options on how to achive this. The February 2005 Budget Options presents options to House and Senate Budget Committees for possible ways they can alter federal spending and revenues. The options discussed in this report include a range of policy possibilities for the Committees to consider, yet the report offers no recommendations as the CBO's primary objective is to provide impartial analysis. The CBO also released this week a transcript of CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin's testimony to the Senate Budget Committee. He testified yesterday on the economic costs of long-term federal obligations, in which he noted that long-term paths for spending are slated to rise drastically in many areas over the next forty-five years. He said spending on these programs will either be paid through revenue from taxation or revenue from borrowing. Notably he mentioned that revenue from borrowing eventually will "impl[y] future taxes."