Tying tax cuts to triggers puts accent on cutting debt

President Bush has assured the American people that the economy will support his proposed tax cuts, his spending plans, the shoring up of Medicare and Social Security and the reduction of the national debt.
That is a tall order, and some have their doubts that it can be filled. If there is one lesson the American people should have learned by now, it's that they can't have it all.
Legacy: The Reagan-era tax cuts of 20 years ago, coupled with aggressive spending, especially in the area of defense, helped build a publicly held national debt of more than $3 trillion that is, simply, unacceptable and must be drastically reduced. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to pay off the debt. And we owe it to ourselves, because interest on the debt takes a huge chunk out of the budget, and reducing the debt would free up money for private sector development and provide lower interest rates for everyone.
Paying down the national debt has long been a goal this newspaper supports, and it continues to be so.
With that in mind, when the Senate takes up the tax cuts passed last week by the House, it should insist on a series of triggers over the next 10 years that assure that an orderly paying down of the national debt takes priority over tax cuts.
Win-win: As long as the debt is being paid off, the American people will receive the anticipated tax cuts. That becomes a win-win situation for individual taxpayers and for the nation as a whole.
If President Bush and his supporters truly believe that the economy will support necessary government services, a reduction of the crippling debt and a tax cut, they should not be averse to establishing trigger mechanisms.
To do so would demonstrate that the administration and the Republican leadership in Congress have the courage of their convictions. Such a demonstration of faith isn't too much to ask.