Taxes, Deficits and the Current Recession
The budget summit agreement, including the largest tax increase in history. was rushed through Congress in the final moments of the last session. Even now – long after passage of the act and the 1990 elections – many specifics of the agreement have not been made public. We know enough to compare overall promises with reality, however. For example, although the conferees promised to cut spending in return for higher taxes, precisely the opposite result occurred: while taxpayers pay more, the federal government will also borrow and spend more.