Troubling truths for Democrats about the ‘Bush Tax Cuts’

The late Democrat senator Robert Byrd was the king of earmarks.Live long enough and you’ll learn one thing. The US Congress likes to spend money. For many years the mark of a good congressman was how much pork he could send home. There’s only one way to sustain that model and that is by increasing taxes, effectively moving private sector dollars into the hands of government bureaucrats. The king of the earmark model was the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Va.), a former Ku Klux Klan member, who earmarked more than $1 billion for his buddies back home.

Public records also show that President Barack Obama, as a short term US senator, was also skilled at earmarks. He contributed to the deficit he condemns at present. What really happens when Congress enacts a tax increase?

It’s comical when a leftwinger criticizes Republicans for free market principles, and that same leftie will usually toss in remarks that include the term ‘corporate.’

So for you leftwingers reading this, let me share a slice of reality. The government IS a corporate body and in modern times, it’s a body constantly searching for revenue. For one thing, thanks to Obama, we have more than 2 million federal employees to pay for. And as we all know, tax revenue will be returned to the corporate government sector which includes corporate cronies.

Both parties have their corporate alliances and if you think Democrats don’t, go to Project Vote Smart and check out campaign donations to your favorite Dem. Aside from trial lawyers and  media groups, energy companies and pharmaceuticals, include groups like the SEIU and ACORN in those corporate cronies—they function in exactly the same manner as a public corporation except the product they produce is political rather than tangible.

Obama and his Democrats have adopted ‘Blame Bush’ as their most visible battle cry for the 2010 elections. And one major thing the Democrat Party holds against Bush stems from the tax cuts he pushed through. Those maligned Bush tax cuts produced an increase in federal revenue, by the way, for three years. That’s a fact the Dem amnesiacs leave out.

But the real meat of the tax argument lies in history.

The US taxpayer dealt with tax increases under Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and the granddaddy of all tax raisers, Bill Clinton. If things were going well for Democrats and our president politically, I suspect we would already be looking at a sizable tax increase. But Main Street is not as stupid as the political class assumes.

For instance, I’ve often said when the rich have it hard, the poor have it harder. We are seeing that maxim in effect right now.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll recently found most Americans agree those Bush tax cuts should be extended.

The most troubling truths for Democrats lie in history. What happened when each of those presidents dealing with a Democrat-controlled Congress (until 1994) increased taxes?

Congress spent more.

Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 928 gives you the facts: “A Joint Economic Committee report found that every dollar of higher taxes since 1947 has resulted in $1.59 of higher spending. This statistical survey is supported by recent history. Tax increases in 1982, 1984, 1987, and 1990 all were enacted for the alleged purpose of deficit reduction. In every case, however, the deficit rose the following year because lawmakers could not resist the temptation to spend the expected new revenues.”

When taxes increase, so does federal spending.

The only real solution to returning true free market principles and weaning Congress from corporate cronyism is to downsize the federal government. Poor people know this instinctively—money is power.

Obama appointed a fiscal commission comprised mostly of people who will turn to the leftwing familiar, raising taxes, as a solution.

Instead he should have appointed a commission made up of small business owners and managers from mid-size corporations. Such a commission would focus on the matter that is key to economic health at home or in government—spend wisely, save for a rainy day and don’t put your hand into another’s pocket to satisfy your own urges.

Tax and spend does not work in the long run. Look to California, a state that could aptly be called the 'Tax Me State.' That state is in the uncomfortable position of having to issue IOUs to pay some bills.

Statist media isn’t going to remind you of these troubling truths about the Bush tax cuts. The most glaring truth, perhaps, is that the president who dealt with character assassination on a daily basis is the only president in recent history to cut income taxes for all the American people.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Aug. 13, 2010)