Soaring revenues

Congressional Democrats plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire because they yearn for more of your money to spend like a junkie aches for the needle.

It’s their nature.

In fact, though, the Bush tax cuts have not led to any reduction in federal revenues. Allowing Americans to keep more of their own money has long been a recipe for spurring economic growth — and the numbers don’t lie.

Last week, the Treasury Department announced that tax collections hit an all-time high in April when Washington took in $383.6 billion. So far this fiscal year, federal revenues are up 11.2 percent over the same period a year ago.

The deficit picture has also improved dramatically. For the first seven months of the past fiscal year, the federal budget deficit stood at $184.1 billion. Over the same time frame in the current fiscal year, the deficit is $80.8 billion.

The good news may be only short-term, of course. Federal spending continues at a record pace. And in the long run the nation’s fiscal health depends upon how our politicians address the structural deficiencies of budget-busting entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

But the latest numbers should put to rest the shop-worn canard that tax cuts “cost” the U.S. Treasury. And if Democrats sit on their hands and allow the administration’s tax reductions to lapse — thus imposing upon the American public the largest tax increase in our history — they may soon find themselves back in the minority.