What both sides lose sight of is what it costs to use the force of the state to back up their crystal ball predetermination of future needs. Thus, new needs, which must be funded by new laws, are put at a dramatic disadvantage relative to old needs. That is the perfect recipe for stultifying the responsiveness of government to change. My argument is simple. Like any business or household getting ready for tomorrow, our government policies today desperately need fiscal slack.
Slack provides flexibility.
It makes room for initiative, for adapting to changing conditions, and, in a democratic society, for bending to the will of each new generation. Permanent fiscal slack is the normal condition of a vibrant government. It is foolish today to try to give up whatever modest surplus might be available in an unknown future just so we today can claim credit for higher future expenditures or lower future taxes. It is even more foolish to try to maintain promises in the longer-term future that predetermine how almost every future federal dollar of revenue will be spent. Until we restore permanent fiscal slack to government, we will remain in a straightjacket.