During his first term, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced tax rates across the board — not just for the wealthy — and allowed Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.

In his address to a joint session of Congress this week, the president asked Congress to extend the TCJA, which is about to expire at the end of this year. “The next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history,” he said, “is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody.”

If that law is allowed to expire, all the benefits enjoyed by individuals and businesses alike would disappear. Even worse, Americans could face a significant tax hike when they’re already having trouble making ends meet thanks to years of inflation.

The TCJA “not only lowered taxes for Americans at every income level, it simplified taxpaying, and supported an economy that was struggling to finish the long climb out of the great recession,” the Cato Institute’s Adam Michel writes. “The law cut taxes for more than 80 percent of Americans and cut the tax bill for the lowest-income Americans the most.” He adds, “The tax cuts also boosted wages, investment, and economic growth by expanding full expensing for businesses and lowering the corporate tax rate.”

There’s never a downside to letting people keep more of their own money, especially since we have had a prodigal Congress for far too long. Our tax money is never enough to satiate their addiction. Income taxes only fund half of the federal budget, forcing spendthrifts on Capitol Hill to borrow money just to pay the interest on the debt.

It’s scandalous that they balk at the very mention of a tax cut when letting the TCJA expire would have such painful consequences on more than 80% of Americans who, especially now, need every dollar.

“If the expiring provisions lapse,” writes Preston Brashers at The Heritage Foundation, “Americans would face more than $4 trillion in net tax hikes over 10 years, according to government scorekeepers. Individuals would face higher tax rates and more complicated tax returns, and businesses would face tax rules that discourage investment.”

Democrats, the supposed “working-class party,” never seem concerned about what might happen to working-class Americans if their taxes increase or if inflation reduces the purchasing power of their dollars.

They assume our tax dollars belong to the government. As long as the money flows into Washington, they can keep spending and demanding more.

The media are up in arms over what the Republican plan might do to the federal deficit, but they’re silent when Democrats recklessly spend money to fund projects through USAID, let government agencies run amuck without any fiscal accountability, or seek billions more for Ukraine. But when Republicans want tax cuts to help all Americans, the media hypocritically cry foul.

Democrats constantly revert to their tired tirade: “The rich don’t pay their fair share.” That falsehood is how they dupe many into believing their “tax cuts for the rich” mantra. In reality, as a share of the tax base, wealthy Americans pay more taxes than everyone else combined. And in any case, taking all the billionaires’ money wouldn’t put a dent in the debt without the will to cut spending.

As Brian Reidl writes at The Wall Street Journal, “There are a few excessive tax loopholes and undertaxed corporations that lawmakers could address. It’s farcical, however, to suggest that the tax-the-rich pot of gold is large enough to rein in our deficits and finance new spending programs. Seizing every dollar of income earned over $500,000 wouldn’t balance the budget. Liquidating every dollar of billionaire wealth would fund the federal government for only nine months.”

That’s the reality Democrats and their Leftmedia mouthpieces want to hide from the American people. It’s Congress that’s hoarding our money and blowing it, not the rich.

Now, the challenge for Republicans is to extend the tax cuts as part of a broader plan to restore economic prosperity.

“Top Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune, are determined to make permanent tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year, through a parliamentary maneuver that bypasses Democratic opposition,” according to Reuters. “Because rules prohibit bills from expanding the deficit beyond a 10-year window, they intend to ignore a projected revenue loss of more than $4 trillion by claiming that tax policy would remain unaltered.”

On the other side of the Capitol, “Some House conservatives have expressed opposition to using the current policy baseline to negate the cost of the tax extension if their Senate counterparts don’t also include the steep spending cuts greenlit by the House budget,” Politico reports.

Moving forward, what seems complicated is very simple: The current level of federal debt is unsustainable and requires tough and immediate measures. It demands that Congress break its reckless spending habits lest it drive our country off the cliff. Fortunately, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans finally seem serious about tackling the problem rather than continuing to kick the can down the road.