Puny vs. Huge Tax Cuts.

• Author: Lynch, Michael W.
• Position: Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

The New York Times' Bob Herbert derides President Bush's proposed 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut package as "enormous." His op-ed page colleague Paul Krugman calls it "irresponsible." Other newspaper commentators characterize it as "huge." But how big is enormous? At what point does responsible become irresponsible? Does huge do the cut justice?

The proposed tax cut is just over 1 percent of GDP and would shave less than 6 percent off the federal tax grab. Put in this perspective, other adjectives come to mind. Among them: modest, reserved--or downright puny.

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist characterizes it as a...