From staff reports

As Republicans and Democrats in Congress spar over whether to cut taxes by some $792 billion over the next decade, perhaps they should give Minnesota a look.

Tuesday, August 03, 1999

As Republicans and Democrats in Congress spar over whether to cut taxes by some $792 billion over the next decade, perhaps they should give Minnesota a look.

Here, taxpayers are about to receive checks containing surplus tax dollars.

That is not such a bad approach to giving extra money back. We’re all for it.

If Congress would consider a similar approach to handling its surplus, a couple of things might happen.

First, Congress could avoid making too big of a tax cut, one that might have to be reversed in a few years, perhaps drastically, to cover the cost of government programs such as Social Security. Giving the surplus back every year by check allows more time to determine just what Social Security needs to survive, and what size tax cut is truly sustainable.

Second, Congress could have time to determine whether the projected 10-year surplus will become a reality at all, or if changes in the economy loom that could make it vanish. An economic downturn could bring back federal red ink, and add to the national debt and its frightening interest payments that are even now accruing.

Taxpayers could, as in Minnesota, just as well reap the benefits of a federal surplus year by year in the form of checks. At least for awhile. In fact, as Wall Street cheers economic slowdowns, there does not seem to be an immediate need to fuel the economy with tax cuts that rely on 10-year budget estimates.

The important thing is that government balance meeting current and future core needs such as Social Security and paying down the debt – particularly when much of the surplus is excess Social Security payroll taxes – while also returning leftover funds to taxpayers as the funds become available.

Checks might just do this nicely.

However, the current partisan tax cut rhetoric seems more geared toward re-election campaigns on both sides than serving the nation’s future.