Thursday, March 31, 2011

Right Speak Poll

I would be interested in hearing the opinions of the Right Speak community on the following question:

What is worse, raising taxes or increasing the deficit?

For me, I am much more concerned about the deficit than I am about raising taxes and I think that places me in the pre-Reagan conservative mode of thinking. Some of you might recall or have read how George H.W. Bush referred to Reagan's economic proposals as "voodoo economics." Bush thought like the old guard -- that if you increase spending, then you must increase revenue. When Reagan chose Bush as his running mate, Bush adapted to the new party line. But it didn't last. That is why Bush famously reneged on his "no new taxes" promise that he made during his campaign. That is also why the deficit began to decrease during his presidency. That is also one of the reasons why Bush 41 has never been extremely popular in conservative circles. He just never fit in with the 'tax cuts equals conservatism' mode of thinking.

So are you a Reagan tax cutter (he did raise taxes 11 times in an effort to pay for half of the 1981 tax cut) or a Bush 41 deficit hawk?

(Note: I suppose some people are going to argue that both are bad. If you do, I expect to hear an argument as to why the deficit increased under Reagan's tax cuts.)

8 comments:

Dave said...

Raising taxes is worse because it reduces private sector production, from which taxes are substracted. So, it actually exacerbates the deficit to raise taxes, as well as reducing the size of the productive sector of the economy.

Ultimately, economic growth, coupled with entitlement reforms, and reductions in the size of the public sector will all be required to balance the budget.

Right Wingnut said...

What Dave said.

Jonathan said...

Increasing the deficit. It adds to our longer term debt, which cripples us down the line. Sometimes taxes need to be raised in order to meet fiscal demands.

So, count me as a Bush fiscal hawk. We need to balance our budget to get things back on track, even if that means raising some taxes.

Anonymous said...

I disagree with the premise of the question.

Government spending is not just a money issue. Much of what the government has done over the years has been counter-productive. The most famous example is welfare. I understand how alluring the idea could have been at first. Folks saw people in difficult circumstances. Many of these people didn't deserve to be in those circumstances and just a little extra help with some expenses would make a huge difference in their lives. These people instituted the program to help these people, mostly women and children.

Unfortunately, as the program grew, the effects changed. Women in difficult situations would look at their husbands who had low-paying jobs and start to feel resentment. They'd think how they could get just as much money by getting rid of him and taking a government check. Furthermore, the government check wouldn't smell bad, leave the toilet seat up, or leave socks on the floor. When they developed this attitude, the women didn't try to work as hard to make relationships work.

The men also changed. They felt unappreciated. They realized that they could take the little money they made and use that money for their own desires. They'd find someone else for sex, and they wouldn't have to put up with a bad attitude on a daily basis.

The result was the destruction of many poor families. That destruction has done tremendous damage to our society. We'd have been better off if the government had taken the money spent on welfare and burned it all in a bonfire. We'd have lost trillions of dollars, but we would have stronger families throughout every socioeconomic class. We'd have a better overall society.

If we want to make things better, we have to attack both taxes and the deficit. We can only attack both simultaneously by attacking spending.

Bill

Noelle said...

I am unwilling to consider raising taxes until the spending problem has been addressed. When we have achieved responsible spending levels, then I am willing to discuss raising taxes, but not until. If we raise taxes, spending will just continue to increase.

John said...

That's a fair point Noelle.

To answer the question: Raising taxes is the better option. I should write a post about this really.

Revolution 2012 said...

SPENDING MONEY WE DON'T HAVE!

That's the problem.

Fix that, then we can talk about the rest.

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