Saturday, January 15, 2011

Who Wants to Raise Taxes?

The answer: 18 percent of Americans. Fewer than 1 in 5 think that the way to reduce the deficit is through hiking taxes. 86 percent of Americans think that the deficit can be reduced through spending cuts. The numbers come from a new poll by CBS News, and are bad news for those on the left who advocate for increases in taxation to reduce the national debt.

As written about previously, even President Obama has been considering the use of supply-side economic principles for debt reduction. State-by-state, the trend has been for businesses (and the jobs they provide) to move out of high tax states to low tax states. As a result, people move from states without jobs to states with jobs. The tax revenue in states that hike their taxes actually ends up lower in the long-run, while states with low tax rates see greater revenues. That's supply-side economics at work, and evidence that the Laffer Curve holds true.

When fewer than 1 in 5 Americans support tax hikes, it is a clear message to Congress and to the President that the solution to America's deficit problem is not new taxation, but instead new reductions in spending. Rep. John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was right when he stated that "Washington does not have a revenue problem." Speaker Boehner further added "Washington has a spending problem." Washington's spending problem, much like an alcoholic's drinking problem, will have greater negative effects the longer it is allowed to continue. Putting an end to the spending problem must be a priority for the country.

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