Opinion: If the tax bill is so great, why don’t Republicans pledge not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid?

To the editor: I recently wrote to my congressman and senators as well as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) with a suggestion. (“GOP tax bill: A short-term buzz that promises a killer hangover,” editorial, Dec. 19)

In the same way that Grover Norquist used to have GOP lawmakers pledge never to raise taxes, I suggest Democrats challenge every single Republican to pledge, in writing, that they will not cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security if it turns out that their tax bill ends up exploding the deficit.

After all, since some are saying the bill may actually pay for itself, there should be no reason at all that they wouldn’t make such a pledge.

My guess, of course, is that not a single one of them would agree to this promise. But that’s the point: Let’s get them to go on record refusing to say that they’ll protect these programs if their tax bill doesn’t perform as promised.

Larry Garf, Topanga

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To the editor: President Trump and his congressional tax-cut cabal push huge permanent cuts for their wealthy patrons. No surprise there. But they tout modest temporary cuts for the working classes, sweetening that bitter pill by imagining that those will be made permanent some time in the future.

Such legislative legerdemain comports with immutable tax reduction principles: All who stand to benefit from proposed tax cuts will welcome them, however much they may imperil federal solvency. But once tax cuts have proven improvident, the government can no longer play Santa Claus. Plus, reversing those cuts will be well nigh politically impossible.

Didn’t lawmakers learn from how George W. Bush’s “trickle-down” magic worked out? His administration’s tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 limited the federal government’s ability to respond to the Great Recession that started in 2007.

Once Trump’s cynical tax gambit takes effect, prepare for Great Recession 2.0 — if not Great Depression Redux.

Edgar Martinez, Orcutt, Calif.

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To the editor: With all the talk about the last-minute perks for particular legislators that found their way into the tax bill, I have a suggestion: We should demand that all senators and representatives release their income tax returns next year.

Michael Davidson, Altadena

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