Friday,
March 25 2005
REPUBLICANS
ARE FROM MARS AND DEMOCRATS ARE FROM VENUS: The other
day the Kentucky General Assembly passed (and Republican Governor
Ernie Fletcher signed) a
tax reform package that will drop an estimated 500,000 of
the poorest families in the state off the income tax rolls completely.
The top tax rate is only going to fall by 0.2% and taxes paid
by families making more than $75,000 per year will remain unchanged.
If you think
this sounds like the kind of tax relief "progressives"
would support then you don't understand how they think:
"Overall,
we're very disappointed that the bill is revenue neutral at
a time when Kentucky needs to make some important investments,"
said Heather Roe Mahoney, co-director of the Democracy Resource
Center in Lexington. "Revenue neutral is really
going in reverse."
In other
words, tax cuts are fine as long as 1) they are targeted only
toward the poor and 2) government spending continues to increase.
The bill
also contained a reduction in the corporate income tax designed
to stimulate business investment and job creation in the state,
an idea that struck the aforementioned Ms. Roe Mahoney as totally
foreign: "We just don't buy the argument that tax cuts equal
economic growth." Like I said: Venus.
Not all Democrats
think this way, of course, but as a whole it's fair to say they
suffer from a rather well-deserved reputation as the party eager
to tax and spend more and usually less willing to make tough budget
choices (for reference see newly-elected
Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire).
The GOP exists
at the other end of the ideological universe, opposing tax increases
with a ferocious zero-tolerance policy that often sees them eating
their young. Republican Governors dealing with budget deficits
are usually the victims: if they so much as even think of raising
taxes or fees on anything (other tobacco and alcohol, that is)
they're labeled heretics and apostates.
The names
on the Republican tax-raising blacklist continue to grow: Bob
Riley, Mike Huckabee, Don Sundquist, Bob Taft. Last week Robert
Novak reported that former OMB Director and supply-side darling
Mitch Daniels, now the Governor of Indiana, is under assault from
fiscal conservatives for proposing a one-year, one percent property
tax increase on people making more than $100,000 to help balance
the budget.
Ditto Governor
Bill Owens of Colorado who, after delivering the largest tax
relief package in the state's history, is now fighting to protect
his good tax cutting name for recently agreeing to a referendum
that will ask the people of Colorado to allow for a small tax
increase.
The fact
is, there are only a couple of things that will kill a Republican's
presidential hopes dead in their tracks: one is being seen as
pro-choice and the other is being seen as a tax raiser.
Jeb Bush
and Haley Barbour know this, which is why they have staunchly
refused tax and fee increases of any kind, much
to the chagrin of some Democrats and the media in their respective
states. It's no coincidence that rumors have been swirling about
presidential runs for both of them.
And while
Democrats
who vote for tax increases (or against tax cuts) can still
easily win their party's nomination, the smart ones understand
how broad and powerful the message of tax cuts can be with the
general public. This
guy is one of the smart ones.
THE
WORD OF GOD: Last week at a conference on faith-based
initiatives a nationally recognized elected official told the
crowd that "God has a lot of trust in me."
This is the
sort of religious expression that causes the secular left in this
country to start squealing like Ned Beatty in Deliverance. We'll
see if it happens this time, given that the
words came out of the mouth of Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic
Governor of Michigan.
HE
SAID IT: "There is no higher priority for our party."
- RNC
Chair Ken Mehlman on helping Rick Santorum win reelection
in 2006. - T. Bevan 8:32 am Link
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