Via Seattle Times:
WASHINGTON — Congress is apparently not done cutting taxes, even after passing a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul last year.
The deal struck by Democrats and Republicans on Monday to end a brief government shutdown contains $31 billion in tax cuts, including a temporary delay in implementing three health-care-related taxes.
Those delays, which enjoy varying degrees of bipartisan support, are not offset by any spending cuts or tax increases, and thus will add to a federal budget deficit that is already projected to increase rapidly as last year’s mammoth new tax law takes effect.
The Congressional Budget Office said earlier this month that the federal budget deficit reached $228 billion in the first three months of the current fiscal year, $18 billion more than the deficit in the first quarter of fiscal 2017, despite strong economic growth. And that was before the tax cuts kicked in.