WASHINGTON House Republicans have giddily greeted the GOPs tax reform proposal thus far, with some lawmakers suggesting theyre ready to pass a yet-to-be written bill as soon as they get their hands on it. But that enthusiasm shouldnt be a shock when the Republicans making the laws falsely believe one thing that tax cuts pay for themselves.

Yes, tax cuts can create economic growth, which can in turn increase revenue. But recent history has shown that tax cuts arent without a cost. If youd like a lesson in the matter, ask Kansas .

Or just look at the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts under former President George W. Bush.

Rather than paying for themselves or unleashing the economy, the Bush tax cuts significantly contributed to increases in the deficit. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities , the Bush tax cuts will be responsible for 40 percent of our national debt by 2019. And there isnt clear evidence that those tax cuts created economic growth certainly not enough to offset the cost of the cuts.

Even the CBOs most modest analysis , excluding the effect of having to pay interest on extra debt, said the 2001 tax cuts contributed more than a trillion dollars to the national debt in their first 10 years.

When HuffPost talked to conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin about the deficit impact of tax cuts on Thursday, the former CBO director was emphatic: Tax cuts do not pay for themselves.

We have all sorts of evidence to that effect, Holtz-Eakin said. I dont think theres any evidence, over any interval, that they pay for themselves. Over any sustained period, they dont.

Former Ronald Reagan economic adviser Bruce Bartlett, who helped write Reagans tax cuts and literally wrote the book on Reaganomics, published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Thursday titled: I helped create the GOP tax myth. Trump is wrong: Tax cuts dont equal growth.

Bartlett said most Republican rhetoric about tax cutting is wishful thinking.

In reality, Bartlett wrote, theres no evidence that a tax cut now would spur growth.

But that thought would come as a surprise to most House Republicans, who are apparently convinced that tax cuts do create growth and do bring in more money than they cost.