Syndicated columnist John Hood analyzes the federal tax cut/reform package.

Will the legislation raise the federal tax burden on most Americans in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy? With regard to the final deal, the Left’s standard allegation is valid only for some non-wealthy Americans, only in the very long run — almost all Americans clearly pay less for the next few years — and only if one assumes that tax breaks slated to expire in 2025 won’t be extended.

But they will. No future Congress will allow the rate cuts, child-tax credits, or other middle-class provisions expire. Congress will extend the tax breaks again, or make them permanent. Republicans included the expirations solely to squeeze the tax bill under the cap of $1.5 trillion in on-the-books revenue loss required by budget rules currently in place.

Even if the individual tax breaks did expire, most Americans at all income levels would still pay less tax over the next 10 years than they would if the tax bill never happened. They’d get more tax cuts earlier in the decade than the tax hikes they’d get later in the decade. When Democrats start their tax-distribution clock in 2026 in an attempt to claim otherwise, they actively mislead the public by ignoring what happens between now and 2026.

Read John Hood’s full analysis of the federal tax package — and his cautionary note to fiscal conservatives about federal spending and the massive federal debt.