By Dane Smith & Jack Ditmore

For a more nuanced understanding of our budget debate complexities, you might consider searching YouTube for the beer commercial in which two women wrestle in the mud over whether the product “tastes great” or is “less filling.” If you have somehow missed this highly educational video, you have been treated to the political version — Less spending! More taxes! — in the news media every day all summer.

The fact is, our political leaders and governments do face a muddy dilemma over these choices, each of which is actually necessary but insufficient by itself. Simply cutting expenditures will not relieve the demand for services and the need for valuable public investment, which often grows at the exact time the private sector declines and tax revenues dry up. But simply raising tax rates is not enough either, when faced with huge deficits and an underperforming economy.

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