Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Paying for Big Government
Tax "Reform" Proposal is out...
Remember when Dick Cheney said that deficits don't matter? Well the tax reform commission came out today with its recommendations for tax 'reform' (aka-tax increase) plan. It turns out that our annual deficits of $300 billion don't matter, especially if you don't like things like mortgage interest deductions, deductions for your state and local income taxes, employer provided health care, etc. Yeah, it's a bipartisan panel, all the better to screw us tax payers to feed the monster that is the federal government.
My favorite talking point is the emerging blather about how allowing a deduction for state and local taxes really is a subsidy for high tax states (like my home DC). Actually, um...it's not, the reason you are allowed to deduct you state and local taxes is that long ago, Congress felt that it was unfair to force you to pay federal income tax on money you are actually paying out in taxes. A recognition of federalism if you will. Too bad that concept is increasingly looking dead.
Funny thing is, that when we voted in a GOP majority, we expected many things, but massive tax increases in the guise of reform wasn't one of them. Perhaps I'm being a bit chicken little here, but mark my words, in two, three, or five years, we're all gonna be fondly remembering things like the mortgage interest deduction and wondering why we are paying so much more in taxes. This is not reform...it's an increase.
I'm actually reading this report tonight..I'll share more on that later...
Remember when Dick Cheney said that deficits don't matter? Well the tax reform commission came out today with its recommendations for tax 'reform' (aka-tax increase) plan. It turns out that our annual deficits of $300 billion don't matter, especially if you don't like things like mortgage interest deductions, deductions for your state and local income taxes, employer provided health care, etc. Yeah, it's a bipartisan panel, all the better to screw us tax payers to feed the monster that is the federal government.
My favorite talking point is the emerging blather about how allowing a deduction for state and local taxes really is a subsidy for high tax states (like my home DC). Actually, um...it's not, the reason you are allowed to deduct you state and local taxes is that long ago, Congress felt that it was unfair to force you to pay federal income tax on money you are actually paying out in taxes. A recognition of federalism if you will. Too bad that concept is increasingly looking dead.
Funny thing is, that when we voted in a GOP majority, we expected many things, but massive tax increases in the guise of reform wasn't one of them. Perhaps I'm being a bit chicken little here, but mark my words, in two, three, or five years, we're all gonna be fondly remembering things like the mortgage interest deduction and wondering why we are paying so much more in taxes. This is not reform...it's an increase.
I'm actually reading this report tonight..I'll share more on that later...
