(IBD) -- Lawmakers debating tax reform, and the fiscal year 2018 budget resolution often operate within fundamentally opposite frameworks on tax policy. Clearing up misinformation is a necessary first step to reform, beginning with the following six common beliefs that are demonstrably false:
Myth #1: Long-term deficits are driven by tax cuts and falling revenues
Fact: They are driven entirely by rapid spending growth
Advertisement - story continues below
Revenues are projected to rise from 17.8% to 18.4% of GDP over the next decade — well above the 17.4% average of the past 50 years. This means lawmakers could cut taxes by $1.7 trillion over the decade and still leave revenues at historically-average levels. Long-term deficits are entirely driven by projected spending, soaring from 20% to nearly 30% of GDP over the next few decades.
