Anti-Tax Conservatives believe that raising tax in general, certainly in a weak recovery, would hurt the economy. The simple math suggests that Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich costing on average less than $80 billion a year would not help much the Obama Deficits of more than $1 Trillion a year. But for Long Island Congressman Peter King, the “world has changed” when it comes to Grover Norquist and raising tax.
“If I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed a declaration of war against Japan. But I’m not going to attack Japan today,” said King on Meet the Press according to Politico.
Indeed, if Japan does not kill 3,000 of our servicemen in an unprovoked act, no one would declare war on Japan now. But if they do attack us, or if we do have a weak economy and deficits ten times larger than the “costs” of Tax Cuts for the Rich, then things are likely the same as in 1941. However, Mr. King believes that hiking tax with the current GDP at 1.8% is the same as say hiking tax in late 1993 when quarterly GDP was on average more than 3% for 18 consecutive months and real monthly job growth was considerably stronger than at the current time.
But no Mr. Congressman. Math is math. If you agree with the Democrats that we have to to go back to the Clinton Years on the rich, fine with me. But be bold and demand cuts in the Defense Department Budget. Be bold and demand serious restraints on Domestic Spending. Those are the things that were done in the 1990s, in addition to taxing the poor and middle class at higher rates than now. All these things together (plus a Tech Bubble and Corporations cooking the books) produced Surpluses. Taxing the Rich as we did in the 1990s but busting the budget on defense like Reagan and Domestic Spending like both Bush’s would not solve your budget problems.
