Bruce Bartlett renounces his previous support for the theory that, by depriving the state of revenue, supply-side tax cuts will force reductions in government spending, or “starve the beast.” Bartlett has been convinced of the folly of this position by the behavior of the current Congress and administration who continue to increase spending despite the presence of large deficits.

Bartlett says the “starve the beast” theory was somewhat successfully in restraining government in the 70s and 80s. I would wager an examination of the record would show the deficit restrained Congress from creating new programs, but did not stop them from jacking up spending on existing programs.

Bartlett also touches on the contradiction between the starve the beast argument and the supply-side argument that supply-side tax cuts will increase government revenue, thus facilitating the growth of the warfare-welfare state. I have seen the same people make both the “tax cuts starve the beast” and the “tax cuts fed the beast” argument for tax cuts, you would think even Republicans would be bright enough to realize that you can’t starve and fed something at the same time!