Sarah Palin may hunt moose with a rifle, but when she’s out for bigger game, she relies on an unorthodox approach to bring down her quarry: deprive it of food. “Please, starve the beast!” she recently implored a Tea Party Express rally in Boston. The critter in question is the federal government, which has been expanding like an oil spill in recent years. Palin’s idea, a favorite among small-government advocates, is that the best way to shrink Washington is a permanent regimen of low taxes.

The theory is worth assessing as the president’s debt commission grapples with ways to stop the gusher of red ink in Washington. It traces back to President Reagan.