During a discussion of the agreement to prevent tax rates from increasing in January, on ABC's World News Sunday, anchor David Muir and ABC's senior Washington correspondent Rick Klein fretted that the federal budget deficit would increase - against the wishes of the voters - as a result of both the blocking of a tax increase and the extension of unemployment benefits. But neither acknowledged that raising taxes could depress the economy and cause tax revenue losses.
After a full report had run that recounted the agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts, Muir conveyed his belief that the plan contradicts voter concerns about the deficit during his discussion with Klein. Muir:
And, Rick, quickly, this comes after voters in the midterms seemed so concerned about government spending and the deficit, and yet, we're hearing now about tax cuts and more spending for the benefits.
Klein warned that "everything that Congress is set to do is going to make" the budget deficit and national debt problems "even worse," and complained about less revenue being collected when "you're cutting taxes." Klein:
Yeah, all this talk in Washington about deficit and debt, and everything that Congress is set to do is going to make those problems even worse. The problem is, these are the easy things, when you extend unemployment benefits, you're spending more money, you're cutting taxes, it means less revenue is coming in. All of those things blow bigger holes in our budget deficit.
- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center