The Christian Science Monitor

Republicans say tax plan will boost growth. How much, and for how long?

The Republican tax rewrite that has now passed both House and Senate represents a legislative triumph for one core idea: that lighter tax burdens mean more economic growth.

Right now, it’s not just the sales pitch behind the tax plans, it’s arguably the idea that most unites a Republican Party challenged by internal divisions and electoral uncertainty.

“If we can’t do better than 1.9 percent [growth], we’ve got real problems in this country,” Sen. Rob Portman (R) of Ohio said last week, citing the current growth rate projected for the next decade by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

But now comes the test: Will the theory turn into economic reality? Will the virtue of tax cuts ring

Bipartisan supportQuestionable appealHow to pay for cuts

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