May 03, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

STATES LOOKING FOR FISCAL SANITY

California took the lead in the anti-tax mania that swept the nation and helped get Ronald Reagan into the White House. Proposition 13 was a landmark move in the anti-tax crusade. Since then when Republicans have been in power we've seen lots and lots of tax cuts for mostly the wealthy. We've also seen whopping deficits. Now the states are looking at the necessity of actually raising taxes so government can provide the services people want and need. This article by Christopher Hayes is at www.thenation.com:

As is often the case with political trends, Washington is the last place to notice. Even while antitax fundamentalism flared in the states, Presidents were at least partially insulated from its most extreme strains: Conservative hero Ronald Reagan raised some taxes, as did both George H.W. Bush (after famously promising not to) and Clinton. But Norquist managed to convince fellow Republicans that H.W.'s defeat was the result of his signing a tax increase, and the son, ever vigilant against repeating the sins of the father, has committed himself to the Norquist catechism with zealous devotion, holding to it even in the face of a massively expensive war.

In so doing he has run up deficits and baited a trap for Democrats, particularly presidential hopefuls, who might be toying with the possibility of raising taxes. Driven by a desire for the approval of the Beltway mandarins, Democratic candidates are going to be tempted to package potential tax increases (for instance, repeal of the Bush tax cuts) as a means of restoring fiscal discipline and reducing the deficit. But telling people you're going to raise taxes to reduce the deficit is like telling them you're going to garnish their wages to pay off the gambling debts of their crazy vagabond uncle. It's no fun.