Thursday, April 14, 2011

Mr. McConnell, we have plenty of problems

Mitch McConnell said: "from my point of view, taxes are not on the table because we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.” This has become the official Republican mantra, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. First of all, just from a common sense standpoint, if you have more revenue you have less of a spending problem. Obviously you can’t raise taxes whenever you want, at least not if you don’t want to be overwhelmed by the negative implications, but admitting that is not the same as conceding that taxes can never be raised. Second, even if you think that the deficit should be the center of our attention, you don’t attack a deficit with budget cuts alone. Third, assuming that cutting spending is the only answer assumes that the consequences of cutting spending don’t outweigh the consequences of the budget deficit. I think people forget that budget cuts aren’t just on paper; that when you cut spending real programs are cut. Fundamentally, we need to consider the use of every possible tool, including taxes. We need to remove our ideological blinders, and focus on solving problems ... we certainly have plenty of problems to solve.

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