Commission of Sin | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Commission of Sin | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "But to focus on the deficit is to confuse the symptom with the disease.

As Milton Friedman often explained, the real issue is not how you pay for government spending—debt or taxes—but the spending itself. In other words, don't just look at the deficit; look at why we have a deficit. And the reason why we have a deficit is pretty simple—government spends too much.

For years, Republicans have tried to dodge the tough questions about government spending by substituting debt for taxes. They felt that as long as they were cutting taxes, no one would notice that they were spending like drunken Democrats."

"After all, every dollar that government spends is a dollar that is siphoned off from American workers regardless of whether it is raised through debt or taxes. Both divert money from more efficient uses in the private sector to less-productive uses in the public sector. Both mean fewer jobs and less economic growth."