Posted on 08/16/2005 6:07:01 AM PDT by Uncledave
The Last Laff? The era of big tax cuts may be over.
BY BRENDAN MINITER Tuesday, August 16, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT
It was bound to happen eventually, but Republicans may now be concluding that there is no longer any political benefit to pushing for deep tax cuts. This may come as a shock to those long convinced that tax cuts are not only good politics but also good economic policy because they spur growth. But the national tax-reform movement--kicked off by California's Proposition 13 in 1978, which froze property taxes, and propelled forward by Ronald Reagan winning the White House in 1980 with promises to roll back big government by rolling back taxes--now appears to be running out of steam. The reason is that the Laffer Curve applies to politics too. There's a point at which further tax cuts won't spur any more economic growth, and there's also a point after which they won't win any more elections.
No one knows where either point really is, of course, and some of us are for continually cutting taxes so we can find out for sure...
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
More importantly, politicians of both parties, including the president, have decided that expanding government spending is good politics.
Interesting analysis. Good reminder we must continue to press for more tax reform.Tax reform alone is not enough, IMO. If you cut taxes and don't cut spending you still have a big government but now you have a big government going rapidly into debt
Any further tax cuts need to come in the context of offsetting spending cuts. And honestly we can't afford to increase the deficit any more.
On the other hand, those blame President Bush for the deficit often overlook the effects of 9/11 and two wars - situations for which deficit spending was appropriate but we don't need to do anything to increase the deficit further.
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... Okay, starting...now!
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... Lather, rinse, and repeat ad infinitum...
It was the low interest rates that helped me. I refinanced the mortgage, and bought a truck @ 0% (nothing like free money), basically I've save a small fortune. Great timing played a big part also.
wonder if there has ever been an analysis of what percentage of tax money collected is just pissed away on useless pork, nonproductive government programs and unnecessary union expansion
Problem is it is all good spending to someone. For example, we have a lot of anti-Govt "conservatives" who would literally explode if you suggested spending less on Immigration and Naturalization. Right now they are busy dreaming up ways to spend hundreds of billions MORE "Sealing the borders".
A very interesting revelation came out of the hearing on the Fair Tax or National Sales Tax.
During this hearing there was a discussion of the level of national sales tax to replace federal tax including the income tax and to support continued government operations in their current and projected form.
A percentage of 23% was proposed by proponents of the Fair Tax.
Senator Breaux announced that his analysts had rejected the 23% estimate. They claimed that a 58% National Sales Tax would be needed to replace all other Federal taxes.
58 percent.
That's a tax rate higher than any Western socialist democracy including France or Sweden. But in France they get 35 hour work weeks, 30 days vacation each year and free medical.
Conclusion: In my America, there's a whole lot of bullsh*t going on.
Seems to me the Republicans are steering a course that is the worst of both worlds. They still take shots from the Left about being heartless and cruel to "our most vulnerable citizens", but they are spending the big money, anyway. This profligate spending isn't buying one bit of goodwill from the Left's constituents (and damn little from "moderates") but it is enraging and alienating a large part of the Republican base.
Republicans need to pick a side and stick with it. If they are determined to be a governing majority party and believe that the only way they can regularly steal 20% of the Democrat voters is through continuously high Federal spending, then just say so. Conservatives will leave the party in good conscience, just as hard left liberals have left the Democrats behind for the Green Party. Republicans can be the squashy middle ground majority party that so many in the leadership seem to feel most comfortable with.
Dream on.
"Tax reform alone is not enough, IMO. If you cut taxes and don't cut spending you still have a big government but now you have a big government going rapidly into debt"
Bingo.
Plus State and Local sales tax? Thats not a dream, thats a nightmare.
>blockquote>"Tax reform alone is not enough, IMO. If you cut taxes and don't cut spending you still have a big government but now you have a big government going rapidly into debt"
Bingo.</blockquote>
It's just staggering to me that only one President since WW2 has submitted a balanced budget and he did it largely by raising taxes.
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