Forget The Tax Hikes, Stop The Spending!!!

Chronicle

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

The Foundation
"[I]n this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." --Benjamin Franklin

Editorial Exegesis

"'Next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits step up. Because I'm calling their bluff.' That was President Barack Obama, the heretofore unknown deficit hawk, all but announcing the other day the tax trap that he's been laying for Republicans. From what we hear about intra-GOP debates, more than a few will be happy to walk right into it. You don't need a Mensa IQ to figure this one out. Mr. Obama's plan has been to increase spending to new, and what he hopes will be permanent, heights. Then as the public and financial markets begin to fret about deficits and debt, he'll claim that the debt is 'unsustainable' and that the only 'responsible' policy is to raise taxes. ... We think the last thing the U.S. economy needs at the moment -- and the worst policy for the deficit -- is the big tax increase that will hit on January 1 with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. ... Under Congress's perverse budget rules, extending those tax cuts will 'cost' the Treasury revenue, even though extending those tax rates would only prevent a tax increase. And because Congress still uses static revenue scoring -- meaning no change in economic behavior from tax changes -- the Joint Tax Committee thinks it will raise nearly $1 trillion over 10 years from the higher tax rates on incomes, dividends and capital gains. That's highly improbable. After those tax rates were cut in 2003, total federal tax revenue increased by 44%, or $743 billion, from 2003-2007. In other words, Democrats have rigged the rules so that merely stopping a tax increase will be scored to increase the deficit. These are the same Democrats who haven't 'paid for' trillions of spending in the last four years, but watch them soon denounce Republicans as fiscally irresponsible merely for trying to stop a tax increase. Orwell would love modern Washington." --The Wall Street Journal

I'm Just Sitting Here Wondering How Many Of The Obamaites Have Seen The Light, And How Many More Will By This Time Next Year.  Buyer's Remorse? More Like A Lemon...