Mike Pence: No, TurboTax Tim, The Country Cannot "Withstand" Tax Hikes

Regarding Tim Geithner's damn-with-faint-praise statement that the country can withstand higher taxes:

"This administration defines 'good policy' as what the country can withstand? The country cannot withstand more spending more borrowing more bailouts or more taxes, and House Republicans will fight this tax increase with everything we've got."

Meanwhile, a PJM writer speculates that Democrats are pondering how to reverse their course without seeming like they're reversing course.

The Democrats must know $75 billion in new taxes next year (and $1.4 trillion over 10 years, according to Michael Boskin in the Wall Street Journal) could push the economy into a coma. It could certainly stifle job growth.

The Congressional Budget Office agrees. In fact, it nearly doubles down on the figures. It estimates $115 billion next year and $2.6 trillion by 2020.

Now, they may not read the bills they pass. But the Democrats must be aware that the CBO predicts big damage if they let the tax cuts expire.

They need the makeup and disguises in order to finesse what they must do. They must keep all or most of the Bush tax cuts or they must replace them with other tax cuts. They cannot afford to drug the economy with tax increases at this stage.

How do they pull this off?

...

They can hardly admit their opponents were right — the critics who called for tax cuts 18 months ago, not to mention those who months ago called for Congress and the president to announce they would extend the Bush cuts.

Also, there is a swig of castor oil you must take when you admit your opponent is right. You must concede you were wrong. If they extend tax cuts now, they concede their recovery plan was wrong. With it, they spent, rather than cut. They gave the back of their hand to small and mid-sized businesses. In this they were wrong and dumb and out of touch with the real world of job creation.

I linked a few weeks ago a piece by Keynesian liberal economist Brad DeLong making the case we needed a bigger stimulus, or a new one, but noting that he'd be happy with tax cuts -- which, he noted (as if it needed noting), also constitute Keynesian stimulus.

Sure would have been nice for Obama to have noticed that a year and a half ago.

Oh wait, he didn't write the bill; he let Nancy Pelosi write it for him.

Sure would have been nice for Nancy Pelosi to have noticed that a year and a half ago.

posted by Ace at 02:01 PM

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