The House of Representatives has just passed two pieces of legislation that could significantly increase the nation’s federal debt. The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, as originally considered, was projected to cost $188 billion and add $134 billion to the deficit. The new, scaled back and split up version approved by the House will cost $113 billion and add $54 billion to the deficit. This is on top of an emergency supplemental war spending bill passed by the Senate yesterday at a cost of $60 billion—none of which is paid for.

In both cases, Congress has shown a fiscally dangerous failure to offset their costs. Emergency designations and PAYGO loopholes aside, given the daunting mountain of debt the country faces, we must offset the costs for these bills. Abiding by this principle is the least we can do in stopping a dangerous fiscal situation from getting worse.

This full PDF of this policy paper can be downloaded at the right. You can also view this policy paper on CRFB.org.