November 9, 2012
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Disappointing Headlines Dept.
Headline on CNN:"Obama, Boehner, begin year end duel on taxes."
Reading the article, this boils down to the two of them hurling platitudes at each other, because no one's going to say the hard truth: We need to cut spending, a lot, and raise taxes, at least a little, and make paying the down the debt the highest priority, not appeasing any particular group of constituents. "NIMBY" has a fiscal equivelent:"NIMBA" -- Not In My Back Account!
Now, here's what a "duel on taxes" OUGHT to look like!
We could put in on pay-per-view, and pretty much end the need to raise taxes by raising revenue that way.
Comments (1)
"... and raise taxes, at least a little"
That point, I can't agree with. The natural incentive for politicians is not to raise taxes to the revenue-maximizing point, but to the higher, political-power-maximizing point. So it's a good bet that taxes are already too high for raising revenue, and a very good bet that they're not below the maximum-revenue point.
As for what a duel on taxes ought to look like, I'd say that it would be more appropriate for such duels to be fought with walking sticks.