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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Lane3 who wrote (71039)6/9/2008 2:29:23 PM
From: Katelew  Read Replies (2) of 542198
 
I got sidetracked over the weekend and am sorry I didn't get back to your thoughtful response sooner.

I was indeed focused somewhat narrowly. What hit my hot button was his suggestion to reduce demand by raising taxes. I'm looking at this broadly and somewhat simplistically, in that inflation is perhaps capitalism's greatest enemy. Starting with that premise, my mind then goes to the fact that no single thing can drive inflation more than can the price of a barrel of oil.

Gasoline prices are only part of the negative impact of higher oil but probably have the most devastating impact on the economy. To slap new taxes on it and thus raise the price even higher in an effort to reduce demand hits me as an approach similar to putting leaches on a patient in the Middle Ages to thin the blood.

I also thought that it was bizarre to have a right-winger like Krauthammer advocating using tax increases in such a way. I assume he would argue that higher income taxes would dampen the economy, so why one and not the other?

Furthermore, his comparing this country to Europe showed a surprising ignorance of the well known differences between us and them in terms of geography, public transportation, and social acceptance of smaller cars.
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