Republicans in Raleigh are singing the praises of themselves for great big “tax cuts.” That’s a good thing to allow people to keep more of their hard-earned money.

But politicians view tax cuts different from the way you and I in the real world do. Politicos always want to be perceived as “giving” somebody something they’ll appreciate. When they talk of tax cuts, it’s really more about cutting one favored constituency’s rate while slightly knocking up another group’s.

Think of it like this: Let’s say you and your three friends all chip in on a large pizza (with everything) once a week. For every week, each of you tosses in four dollars to pay for the pizza. At some point, the group decides that your friend Sally should only have to contribute TWO dollars to the pizza fund each week. So, you’ll be collecting $14 for pizza each week. The pie still costs $16, and maybe more if the restaurant owner decides on a price increase.

The group still wants a large pizza (with everything). They COULD go for a cheaper pie, but won’t. So, in order to get fed, the group needs to find another source for that additional $2: by borrowing from an outsider, or making the other three pay a little more.

That’s the game government types and elected officials play with us when this tax cut talk comes around. Reagan pushed through tax cuts. But the Democrats and RINOs in Congress kept on spending like drunken sailors. They ran out of cash, but just pulled out the credit cards and kept going.

Both Bushes tried tax cuts. Same story from Congress.

SOMEBODY has to pay for all the stuff. Unfortunately, the current crew is sticking our kids and grandkids with the unpayable bill.

It’s been far too much fun to keep giving their constituents stuff.

In 1994 and 2010, we screamed from the mountain tops for a smaller, more responsive government. We sent people to DC and Raleigh who promised as much. Yet, we got more spending and more government and more debt and smaller wallets and smaller bank accounts.

In Raleigh, legislative Republicans — led by David Lewis, who I believe STILL has an ethics complaint about him hanging around out there — are singing the praises of their tax cut proposals. But they have presided over the growth of spending and government.

Between 2009 and 2013, state spending grew by 5.25 percent. From 2013 to 2014, state spending grew by 2.3 percent. From 2014 to 2015, spending grew 1.7 percent.

How is it good business to increase your expenses while cutting your cash flow?

It’s also disappointing to hear Republicans parroting the statist lines about public schools needing MORE MONEY and soaking “the rich” with taxes.

Time and again, systems with the worst performance have the highest per-pupil spending ratio.

Someone paying FIVE PERCENT of $30,000 in income is coughing up $1,500 in taxes. Someone paying FIVE PERCENT of $300,000 pays $15,000 in taxes. Both earners are paying the SAME RATE. But the wealthier person is still contributing MORE.

Can’t afford a large pizza? Go for a small or medium.

If we keep playing this game, we’ll be back to where we were in 1986 and 1992 — with politicians screaming about all of this stuff needing to be paid for and not enough money to do it. So, we get slapped with tax hikes to go with even more spending.

You’ll keep getting your temporary “tax break” as long as you have lobbyists who are getting the cash in the right hands.

Put a stop to the shell game.