Projo Editorial Page: Deficit Reduction is Tax Relief

Today’s Projo editorial page weighs in on whether deficit reduction automatically qualifies as tax relief…

Rhode Island distributes money for tax relief to municipalities that meet the criteria for "distressed communities”….

This year, North Providence qualified for $509,000 under the program, so Mayor Mollis has proposed that the money go to paying off last year's deficit.

This is defensible. Interest on a debt of this size is considerable, and the proposal is tax relief -- of a prospective kind.

Will they, and other supporters of this view, accept its logical inverse: increased government spending automatically counts as a tax increase?