Did Howard Dean just have a Walter Mondale moment? Read this Dean op-ed column from today’s Wall Street Journal:
As president, my economic policies will be focused and clear. I will begin by repealing the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, and using the revenues that result from the repeal to address the needs of the average American, invest in the nation’s infrastructure and, through tax reform, put money in the hands of those most likely to spend it.
Yes, it’s true: Republicans have no heart, and Democrats have no goddamn brains at all.
Take ten percent off my taxes, and I get a couple hundred bucks. Maybe I’ll buy a new stereo receiver or, more likely, buy a few extra steaks each month at Sam’s Club. Or maybe I’ll get myself one of those cool Lego MindStorm sets for Christmas. Net result to economy? Negligible. The only way demand-side tax rebates are more economically-stimulating than government borrowing is, at least I get to choose what becomes of the extra money.
Take the same percentage off the amount owed by Bill Gates, and we’re talking millions of dollars. What’s he do with them? Why, he buries them in the back yard, of course. Hardly. You know the drill: he invests it, because he wants even more money. Smart investments mean future productivity gains. Net result to economy? Pretty damn big.
Let Uncle Sugar keep the money? Forget “infrastructure,” forget “the needs of the average American,” forget anything sane at all. We’ll get more of the same Washington spending, most of which would be more profitably used as kindling. Fire keeps us warm, at least, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out what we get out of sugar subsidies or Congressional junkets to Bermuda.
Scratch that last item. At least with junkets, we get a few Congressmen out of the damn country for a while. Let’em screw up some foreign place for a change.
And I’m talking about Democrats and Republicans.
Anyway, go read the whole thing and judge for yourself.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member