Reply #51: Voters Care About Their Tax Policies and So Do I [View All]

Dean, Gephardt and Kucinich have stated fairly emphatically that they want to get rid of the tax cut. There is no nuance to their proposals. But it's bad policy on their part.

Clark (Kerry and Edwards also) gets this policy right. Clark's positions are new, but not complicated --2 months won't change his position to resemble Dean's. Also, Clark, Edwards and Kerry's position on taxes is much like Bill Clinton's in 1992 (he supported raising taxes on the wealthy to deal with the deficit).

An intersting lesson in history is that Tsongas (in 1992) supported a balanced budget through government cutbacks and examination of entitlements --Clinton did not. But Tsongas didn't support the tax hikes that Clinton did.

Then look at Dean, he supports tax hikes for all and government spending reductions (based on his record and to some extent his proposals). Tsongas lost the nomination with only half the same unpopular proposal (spending cuts) that Dean currently has.

Now think of the politics of Dean position. Dean supports tax hikes and government spending cuts. Bad ideas politically, but also during a downturn a bad idea economically.

Clark has the superior position IMHO, in both respects for a struggling economy. Dean's position would be realistic in an inflationary, booming economy and we're nowhere near that.