The late Sen. Everett Dirksen of my own state of Illinois is reputed to have complained about ballooning federal spending, saying, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money.” It was funny 75 years ago. Today, it’s not even entirely true anymore.

Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee unveiled and then passed the details of the “big beautiful bill,” the tax portion of the president’s legislative agenda. The plan is for it to go through the budget reconciliation process to avoid being susceptible to the Senate filibuster.

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