The Numbers Don’t Add Up
Every Democratic Presidential candidate has said they’ll pay for their pet program (health care, middle class tax cuts) by raising taxes on the rich. (They’ve gotten away saying they’ll let the Bush tax cuts expire, but it’s a tax hike plain and simple.) The problem is no one knows how much money soaking the rich will bring in:
However, those tax cuts are set to expire in 2010, and Congress hasn’t renewed them. Watchdog groups and legislative sources said it is impossible to know whether the money from the about $55 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans will be available for a president to spend on other priorities.
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Adam Hughes, director of federal fiscal policy at the nonprofit OMB Watch, cautioned the candidates against talking bigger than they can deliver.
“It’s good to have vision and to be talking about priorities, but people should ratchet down their promises about what will actually be enacted,” he said, noting that any spending must pass Congress. “The reality is, you’re not a king.”
A House Democratic aide said proposing new programs that rely on the Bush tax cuts seems like flawed logic because “there’s just no way to know what revenues will be.”
Also, no one knows what the negative effects will be from the tax hike. You can be sure the rich won’t simply bend over and take it.
“Democrats Can’t Afford ‘08 Promises”
Disclaimer: I work for Friends of Fred Thompson.
We may not be able to project revenues, but projecting the revenue from eliminating the Bush tax cuts should be much easier. It’s not like we don’t have data - go back into the Clinton era data before and after the tax increase under Clinton was enacted.
I’d rather see the elimination of many of the bogus deductions available before an increase in incremental rates. At some point, I’m hoping a GOP candidate is going to address our deficit issues, and cutting spending (unless we’re willing to cut defense/security spending) isn’t going to do it alone.