Tariffs won’t balance the budget — cutting Washington’s wasteful spending will

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The nation’s federal deficit slightly improved in June when the federal government actually ran a surplus. But, in July, the federal government’s deficit grew by nearly 20%, despite the increased collection of taxes on imports (which are known as tariffs). Nevertheless, the protectionists are loudly crowing about tariffs as the answer to our deficit woes .

Time will tell whether tariffs make a dent in annual deficits, but there was a time when conservatives united against the idea of raising taxes to balance the budget. I remember my father’s misgivings toward a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution because he feared encouraging the concept of balancing the enormous federal government expenditures with new taxes.

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