Kent Conrad's Proposal To Make Tax Cuts Harder Is Nixed
By rob
Say Anything
March 14, 2006
Good.
<<< March 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate, debating the fiscal year 2007 budget plan, rejected a measure that would have made it more difficult to pass tax cuts that increase the nation's deficit.
The Republican-controlled chamber voted 50-50 today on a Democratic proposal to require any new tax cuts or entitlement programs to be offset by savings elsewhere in the budget, in order to avoid adding to the federal deficit. The tie vote killed the proposal.
Most Republicans opposed the measure because it would have made it easier for Democrats to frustrate President George W. Bush's request to extend tax breaks on capital gains and dividends that begin to expire at the end of 2008.
Under the proposal, known as pay-as-you-go or ``paygo,'' 60 votes would have been required to approve tax cuts that would increase the deficit rather than the simple majority usually required. Republicans control the chamber with 55 votes.
``Paygo is just a stalking horse for a tax increase,'' said Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican who heads the Budget Committee. ``It should be called taxgo.''
Democrats, and some Republicans, said it would have helped rein in the government's persistent deficits.
``When, I ask, are we going to start paying for things around here instead of just increasing the spending, cutting the taxes and running up the debt?'' said Senator Kent Conrad, the top-ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee. ``This is an opportunity to begin the process of reining in the growth in the deficits and debt.'' >>>
Why on earth would we want to make it harder to pass tax cuts? Also, why would we want to pass a law that fails to recognize a basic economic fact: Tax cuts increase tax receipts. They don't create deficits they help close deficits.
Honestly, if Conrad is the best the Democrats have to offer on budgetary issues that party is in some serious trouble.
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