Original sentence: During Reagan's presidency the national debt almost tripled and the U
Edited sentence: Although proponents of the tax cut point out that federal tax revenues increased during the subsequent Reagan expansion, at an average annual rate of 7.1%, they grew slower than the 10.1% average rate during the ten years prior to the tax cut.Because this plan discounted the need to cut spending significantly, it continued increasing, and – combined with a sharp recession and the Reagan defense build-up – it caused deficits and debt to increase dramatically, despite a large tax increase in 1982 to partially offset its effects.Consequently, during Reagan's presidency the national debt almost tripled and the U.Despite the empirical evidence the Reagan tax cut did not increase revenues over what they otherwise would have been, and the overwhelming consensus of economists that such tax cuts cannot "pay for themselves" with higher revenues, Republican politicians have since continued to assert they do to promote similar tax cuts – notably the 2001 Bush tax cut and the 2012 Kansas tax cut – both of which failed to fulfill this promise.The Trump administration also asserted its 2017 $1.5 trillion tax cut would pay for itself while nonpartisan analysts estimate it will increase the national debt by trillions of dollars.The centerpiece of Reaganomics – the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 – was largely inspired by the Laffer Curve, which asserted that reducing marginal tax rates would would unleash business formation, expansion and hiring, thereby broadening the tax base (the number of taxpaying entities) and resulting in tax revenue increases that exceed the losses caused by the lower marginal tax rates – obviating the need to significantly reduce federal spending to prevent deficits