Free In Idaho!

A gentleman by the name of James Pethokoukis gives us two unicorns in one blog post over at Reuters.  One is a lefty unicorn, more taxes.  In this case, the so-called ‘value added tax’.

Liberals love the idea of a VAT because it’s, well, so European — also because it does raise tons of revenue to expand government. And that is what Obama wants: more revenue to pay for bigger government. Is a VAT better than the soak-the-rich approach favored by Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel? Sure. Of course, the concern is that a VAT would be in addition to new soak-the-rich taxes.

The other is a righty unicorn, Reaganism.

Obama wants a VAT? First, it should be part of broader tax reform, including getting rid of capital gains and corporate taxes. Second, it should accompany an Economic Bill of Rights much like Ronald Reagan used to suggest. Its elements: a) a balanced budget amendment, b) a line-item veto, c) a spending limit such as inflation plus population growth, d) and a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate for any tax increases. (Reagan also wanted a prohibition on wage and price controls. That would likely kill ObamaCare.)

Wow, both ideas in the same article. How very, well, bipartisan. Or something.  Looks like the herd is growing.  A VAT would find favor with both parties too.

And it’s also no secret that economists love the idea of a VAT. It promotes savings over consumption, and its hidden nature may mean it has less behavioral impact on taxpayers. Conservative economist Bruce Bartlet puts it this way, “As a broad-based tax on consumption, it creates less economic distortion per dollar of revenue than any other tax–certainly much less than the income tax.” Indeed, a VAT is part of cash-strapped California’s newly proposed tax reform.

But the primary point remains, and remains ignored, this government is not only broke, it’s broken. And the perpetual answer of the ruling elite (which just happens to be the Democrats at this time) is always higher taxes. And new taxes. And hidden taxes. Oh I know, Mr Obama promised not to raise anyone’s taxes, except of course those of the evil rich. No, the tobacco thing wasn’t a tax. And the healthcare shenanigans won’t raise your taxes either. No, you’re wrong, cap and tax won’t raise your taxes either. You’re kind of a racist, aren’t you? 

This government is broken.  It is stuck on GROW ( I would also say STUPID, but that is a registered trademark of the GOP).  Both parties do it, and neither party has the brains or the stones to cut, prune, or rein in what has gone before.  If the healthcare “crisis” debate was really about providing better health coverage and access for the American people, that $400 billion in wasteful spending that the Democrats tell us they can cut out of Medicare would be the first thing they would do and they would do it right now as a stand alone, because it would be the right thing to do for the American people…  but no, they walk on by, “we’re sorry you’re being mugged, but we really can’t help you with that, we’re busy doing something important over here”.  Thanks for that.

Name one significant reduction in the size of government during the Bush administration.  Name one reduction in the size of government during the Clinton administration.  I won’t ask about the Obama administration.  Even a blind man can see where that is going.   So when I hear that the politicians are planning their next assault on the American taxpayer, my first reaction is to get in the car and drive down to the antique mall… I saw an old pitchfork in one of the booths the other day.  I think I know a way I could use that.  There’s a stable in Washington D.C. that needs mucking out, and that herd just keeps getting bigger every day.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 am and is filed under Leviathan, Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.