America Blew Almost $2 Trillion. Make It Stop.

The US federal budget seems out of control. Funding spats and debt-ceiling standoffs routinely threaten to force defaults and shutdowns. America's once-unassailable credit rating keeps slipping. Has the government simply become too big to manage?
 

No, but it has been so poorly managed that one could be forgiven for reaching that conclusion. Congress must do better, and next year it will have a rare opportunity.

In 2017, Congress passed a law commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Its authors sold it as a fiscal miracle drug: It would simplify taxes, make businesses more competitive, increase wages, create better jobs, boost economic growth and raise revenue. Now the evidence is in, and the TCJA looks set to be remembered as an outstanding fiscal disaster. By 2027, it will have cost almost $2 trillion, while failing to deliver the promised benefits.