In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Bush plans to call for making all of his tax cuts permanent. That will cost at least $2 trillion over 10 years – probably nearer to $4 trillion – and kill chances for balancing the budget.

Arguably, Bush’s tax cuts brought the economy out of the 2001 recession, but budget experts say they won’t pay for themselves. Nor can the economy grow its way out of the coming baby boomer retirement crisis.