Fred Thompson on Taxes

Former Senator Fred Thompson is keeping his name in the news as he contemplates a run for the White House, and today he has a piece on taxes in the Wall Street Journal:

It's that time again, and I was thinking of the old joke about paying your taxes with a smile. The punch line is that the IRS doesn't accept smiles. They want your money.

So it's not that funny, but there is reason to smile this tax season. The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 and 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy. Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy.

In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half.

Remarkably, this has happened despite the financial trauma of 9/11 and the cost of the War on Terror. The deficit, compared to the entire economy, is well below the average for the last 35 years and, at this rate, the budget will be in surplus by 2010.

The only part of that I disagree with is the notion that the budget will be in surplus by 2010. with Dems in control of Congress there's no way there will ever be a budget surplus, and even if the GOP manages to regain control, they haven't shown any more spending discipline than the Dems. I don't think we'll ever see surpluses again (especially with an ever-growing web of entitlements).

Check out the whole thing.