WSJ: Senate Republicans Target $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut in Budget

Senate Republicans are writing into their budget $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, The Wall Street Journal reported.

An advantage of writing tax cuts into the budget would free Republicans somewhat from having to find offsets to pay for the cuts, the Journal reported.

The catch-22 for Republicans, however, is that a budget that includes an enormous tax cut would not be revenue-neutral and would add to the federal deficit, requiring that the expire the cuts after 10 years.

One report said the cuts would generate $700 billion from economic growth, leaving a gap of $800 billion, if accurate.

"For every economist, there's an equal and opposite economist, and they're usually wrong," Budget Committee member Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told the Journal.

It also deviates from the GOP's original plan of having its budget pay for itself in the first 10 years.

The Senate Budget Committee is considering extensions for more than $400 billion of expired/expiring tax breaks that would be part of the $1.5 trillion in cuts it's considering, the Journal reported.

However, some of those could also be used as offsets.

The Budget Committee hopes to have a decision this week, according to the Journal.

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