Where they stand: The federal budget

We're asking Mike McGavick and Maria Cantwell for their positions on various issues. Their responses will appear occasionally in The Seattle Times. Answers are edited for length.

Should the tax cuts passed since 2001 be extended permanently?

McGavick: Yes. This is not the time to slow economic growth by increasing taxes. Because of these tax cuts, in the last three years more than 5 million jobs have been created and the unemployment rate is lower today than the average in each of the last four decades. Because of lower tax rates, revenue to the government continues to increase, the deficit is being reduced, average incomes continue to rise and the economy is growing.

Cantwell: We need to make permanent tax cuts that truly benefit all working Americans, so I'm fighting to make permanent the state and local sales tax deduction, the college tuition tax deduction, the child tax credit, and to permanently repeal the marriage penalty. Tax relief has to balance maintaining fiscal discipline with stimulating economic growth through continued federal investment in education and job training.

Should budget rules force Congress to pay for tax cuts and spending increases?

McGavick: Yes. The government should have to live within its means. However, we can do this by reforming the way our government spends money, and not by raising taxes. As John Kennedy said, "An economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance our budget, just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits."

Cantwell: Yes, tax cuts and spending should be paid for as they are made law, not deferred so future generations are forced to pay for them. Congress needs to make pay-as-you-go rules and line-item veto power apply to both mandatory spending increases and tax cuts so we can return fiscal discipline to our government and get our ballooning deficit under control.

Should lawmakers consider both taxes and entitlement cuts to reduce the deficit?

McGavick: No. A government with tax revenue increases of 15 percent in a single year that has to consider reducing benefits is a government in desperate need of reform. We must reform federal spending to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. And we must reform entitlement programs to ensure their long-term solvency. By forcing the government to produce more for less, we can reduce the deficit without reducing entitlement benefits.

Cantwell: America currently has the biggest budget deficit in history, which has forced us to borrow more money from foreign countries. The bottom line is that our budget is still in deficit, our debt is still climbing, and we need a sound, fiscally responsible framework to get back on track. That's why I support paying for tax cuts and spending as we go, so we stop passing our debt and mistakes on to our children and grandchildren.