Taxing the Middle Class to Pay for More Spending

Well, Damn, You Don't Think I Actually Read This Blog, Do You? See the post below for Drew's thoughts on this and the excerpt from the first link. We excerpted the exact same bit.

Economic illiteracy from ABC News and the Treasury Secretary:

Look at that first sentence. They're back to claiming outright that the U.S. can tax its way to prosperity. Not spoken--perhaps not even considered--is the economic truth that taxes are not good for the economy. Too much dead weight loss. Taxes may be good for a spendcrazy government still looking to pay off supporters, but they are not good for the economy as a whole.

And there is no mention of that other time-honored method for reducing deficits: not spending so much of my money. This way Obama can break his promise that 95% of Americans would see no tax increase and claim with a shrug: "Desperate times..."

Convenient times, too, since the Administration is considering extending unemployment benefits by 13 weeks. At present, unemployment benefits run for 79 weeks in the hardest-hit states (read: blue states). That's a year and a half of weekly payments while the recipient looks for work. That's a year and a half plus 13 weeks where the employed, who pay income taxes, subsidize the unemployed, who do not.

Don't expect much protest from the GOP, though. Jim DeMint already said Republicans will support the extension. Which leaves me wondering what guiding principle leads him to believe that 92 weeks of benefits is okay? If 92 is okay, how about 100? Or lifetime benefits?

I'm being disingenuous. I know very well that DeMint and his fellows are afraid of being framed as "mean and heartless" during the Great Recession. At heart, the problem is not unemployment benefits. The problem is that the government--in the hands of the Democrats--has done little to resolve our economic woes and probably exacerbated the situation. Now there's little choice but to treat symptoms like unemployment instead of the underlying disease.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:40 PM

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