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Ben Stein Makes Sense: ‘Raise Taxes’
An exchange here on the site lead me to do something I don't any more often than I absolutely have to... I launched Newsmax.com, the swelteringly conservative website and magazine based in South Florida.
And it was there that I saw something I least expected: common sense.
It came in the form of a Ben Stein column (he'll always be the Ferris Bueller teacher to me) called "Raising Taxes is the Adult Thing to Do." Wow.
How does this lauded conservative describe the 30-year experiment in supply side economics from which we are still, definitively, suffering?
In fact, said this theory, if you lowered taxes, the supply of capital and labor provided to the economy would grow so much that even with lower tax rates, the government would collect more revenue than at higher rates. The American people would no longer have to act like responsible adults. They could have their fiscal cake and eat it, too. They could, in essence, eat all the ice cream they wanted and lose weight.
It was a beautiful, hypnotically lovely theory. But it did not work. The lower taxes did not stimulate the economy so much that tax revenues grew. (Indeed, it would not have been arithmetically possible to do so — there just are not enough hours in a year to have more work done to make up for the tax cuts that were proposed.)
And then, the money quote:
It is a complete myth that our economy will collapse if we raise taxes — even substantially raise taxes — on well-off people (incomes of $500,000 or above, I would say). We have plenty of capital, and raising taxes has no history at all of shutting down investment and supply of labor... We have a choice — act like serious people, raise our taxes, keep our military strong, retain our freedom. Or keep taxes low until the Chinese take over the tax system — and everything else.
The whole piece is pretty interesting -- I don't agree with every word, but there's a lot in it for folks of all political persuasions to at least stop and think about for a minute. Just like Mr. Stein, I think it's time for the GOP and Congress to grow up and start to treat this country's problem with serious solutions.
COMMENTS
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May 23, 2012 | 01:37 PMBryant Signs Voter ID Bill
golden eagle: Wow, my English was bad on the previous post. You know how it is on these iPhones.
May 23, 2012 | 12:30 PM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
golden eagle: @Jess, I think the word you're looking for is "assassination". @Darryl, do we really know that the majority of MS'ians wanted this, when you consider that this was a ...
May 23, 2012 | 12:18 PM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
DonnaLadd: I can only hope that the reason that this bill passed is that, for once, our lawmakers listened to the majority of Mississippians and crafted this bill. Considering that the ...
May 23, 2012 | 11:57 AM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
justjess: @Darryl 5/23 "....for once, our lawmakers listened to the majority of Mississippians and crafted this bill." My question is still on the table: What were you "majority ...
May 23, 2012 | 05:26 AM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
Darryl: justjess, I can only hope that the reason that this bill passed is that, for once, our lawmakers listened to the majority of Mississippians and crafted this bill. But, recall, that ...
May 22, 2012 | 04:26 PM
One Night at Fenian's
DonnaLadd: ... because if there is anything The Clarion-Ledger can muster the resources to do, it's show up any night of the week and take drunk pictures. Meantime, they crib our sports stories. ...
May 22, 2012 | 03:53 PM
One Night at Fenian's
Rico: Next time just call Metro Mix at the C-L and have them come and take some pretty pictures for the newspaper. Hell, the got some on karaoke night Monday.
May 22, 2012 | 02:07 PM
[Editorial] To Do Its Job, Council Must Show Up
RobbieR: And Chokwe wants to run for Mayor? Hopefully the citizens of Jackson don't fall for this clown's rhetoric.
May 22, 2012 | 01:15 PM
Catholics Sue Over Birth Control Rule
Brian C Johnson: I cannot decide whether this is a vanity lawsuit, in the sense that the bishops know they stand little chance of prevailing in court. Or to put it more charitably, ...
May 22, 2012 | 01:00 PM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
Brian C Johnson: Darryl, I think it is simply a statement of fact that African Americans in Mississippi are less likely to have the required photo ID. If so, the new law is discriminatory in ...
May 22, 2012 | 11:25 AM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
Duan C.: I am in agreement with Golden Eagle - requiring I.D. ties a fee into voting, the only reason why its considered "discriminatory" towards black, is because it places back into an era ...
May 22, 2012 | 10:22 AM
Person of the Day: Rep. Andy Gipson
RobbieR: What? I was clearly referring to Bennie Thompson, not Rep. Gipson. Rep. Bennie Thomson represents Mississippi's 2nd Congressional district; Darryl noted that he rep'd the ...
May 22, 2012 | 09:59 AM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
justjess: Darryl, out of my "simple ignorance" I ask you this "little question:" Why are registered voters here in the State of Mississippi being asked to produce a picture ID? When the State ...
May 22, 2012 | 08:49 AM
Person of the Day: Rep. Andy Gipson
Duan C.: @ Robbie R - you lost me on that one? They have him listed in the 77th District - covering Rankin, Simpson, and Smith counties?
May 22, 2012 | 08:47 AM
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
bill_jackson: I would be interested to know what percentage of the voting age population does not have identification in this day and age.
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