A response to this column by Sebastian Malleby.

The federal government faces a future of expanding deficits. Thanks to the baby bust and medical inflation, spending is projected to rise by nearly 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2030, a growth equivalent to the doubling of today's Medicare program. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Take a source of revenue and abolish it outright.

Yes, this is the dumbest response. But only if, as a solution to expanding deficits, one looks only at the revenue side of the equation.

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