Republicans and Taxes: House Republicans Finally Get It Right--Adopting This Blog's Tax Policy Instead of the WRONG Tax Policyof Limbaugh, Gingrich

Republicans in the House have finally gotten it right on taxes, seemingly adopting my approach rather than the STUPID approach to taxes they have emphasized in the past. On this issue, I have been right, and Dursh Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingram and the rest have been absolutely, fatally WRONG. Does that mean Republicans are paying attention to this blog? Probably not. But they should.


What am I talking about? Well, the central tax proposal in the proposed House budget is a retun to the genius of Ronald Reagan, at the same time Limbaugh and Hannity have BETRAYED the genius of Reagan. The problem, of course, is that Republicans have sent out a very mixed message, previously advocating the disastrous COMPLICATIONS to the Tax Code endorsed by Limbaugh and Hannity--tax gimmicks that merely encourage the kind of game playing that the Tax Code should discourage.


The cornerstone of the new proposed Republican tax policy is a permanent tax RATE of 10% on the first $100,000 of income and 25% on all amounts over $1000,000. Realistically, of course, they will be forced to accept a zero tax rate up to a certain level (almost 50% of present workers pay no income tax at all). This is exactly what Ronald Reagan did to get the coutnry going after the Carter MALAISE. The Carter recession of 1981-1982 was just as bad as the current recession, in most ways, but Reagan did not turn to socialsim. Instead, he instituted almost 20 years of prosperity with a SIMPLE Tax Code, with reduced tax rates of 15% amd 28%. I have advocated returning to that simple concept. The Democrats, meanwhile, have been proposing tax INCREASES on the "rich", which will not ultimately raise revenue and which will kill the economy, at the same time they propose to COMPLICATE the Tax Code with such things as "cap and trade" (the "global warming" tax to raise your energy costs--no matter what tax "bracket" you are in) and all of these "tax credits" designed to make people do what Democrats want them to do.


But how have deluded Republicans, not to mention Limbaugh and Hannity, done to respond to Democrats over the past several months? See my four part (ending up at least 5 parts) series under the titles: "Rush Limbaugh Is Wrong on Taxes" and "Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich Are Wrong on Taxes." Republicans have endorsed the leftist DEMOCRAT "gimmick" of a "payroll tax holiday". In fact, they have gone further and endorsed the idea of a general "tax holiday", which is merely a WELFARE PAYMENT (not permanent reduction of taxes upon which people can plan) targeted at people who actually pay taxes. While that was better than the Obama/Democrat "stimulus" (porkulus) spending bill, it was always too complex and stupid an idea. Further, Republicans were out there--along with Limbaugh and Hannity--making an elimination of the capital gains tax and big reduction in the corporate income tax central parts of their tax argument. How STUPID can you get (yes, on this matter I just called Rush Limbaugh--a very smart man--stupid)?


Notice how gimmicks like playing games with capital gains, the corporate income tax, and tax "holidays" completely undermine the argument for a simple Tax Code with low tax rates upon which people can plan. As I have said in this blog, the corporate tax rate should be the same as the highest individual rate, and the long term capital gains rate should be no lower than the lowest individual rate (above the zero rate). I don't know if Republicans have kept some kind of "special" capital gains rate (below 10%) in their proposal, or some sort of "special" corporate tax rate (below the 25%). If they have it is a mistake, and completely undermines the argument for a simple Tax Code with low tax rates (meaning people might actually pay them instead of avoiding them).


However, the delay in Republicans coming up with this simple message, at the same time Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich and the rest have been advocating the OLD-=pre-Reagan--idea of a Tax Code tailored to Wall Street and Big Business, has been a disastrous delay. It has muddled the message.


That is the problem with the present Republican Party. There is no leader (or leaders) out there with a consistent message. Conservative talk radio does not fill that void, as Rush himself has noted. Conservative talk radio can act as an amplifier of a cohenernt, conservative Republican message. It is difficult for talk radio to create such a message, when there are no true political leaders out there defining that message.


Like it or not, Democrats have had a simple message. That message is that Big Government is the "solution" to all of our problems (central planning). As this blog has repeatedly, and correctly, pointed out, Republicans no longer have a consistent message. "Simple" Tax Code? How does that square with all of these tax gimmicks seemingly designed more for Wall Street than individuals? Limited government? How does that square with how Republicans actually governed lately, and with their acceptance of the idea that government has to "solve" our problems? Spending? Forget it! Deficits? Forget it! Republicans have not had a consistent message, and still don't have one. Democrats have such a message, even if it is one that willl lead this country to disaster. Frankly, the only time in my lifetime that Republicans had a consistent message was during the Reagan years and during the Clinton years (when the Gingrich revolution united Repubicans against Bill Clinton). Republicans have spent the last ten years (the last 20 in Presidential campaigns) in running away from the principles that brought them to power in 1980 and 1994 (the Contract with America).


Better late than never? Well, yes. But. Will Republicans really unite behind a simple, conservative message (including on "social issues"), or is this House budget simply another "scattershot" proposal (like the capital gains, corporate income tax, and "tax holiday" ideas) thrown up against the wall to see if it sticks? Republicans still need a political leader. They do not presently have one. Conseratives do not really have one, either, as Ronald Reagan represented such a leader even while less talented Repubicans (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, e. al.) were dooming the party to "second class" status.


Too bad. It is time for a conservative leader to emerge. Maybe Bobby Jindal can. Or maybe it will be someone else. The time is ripe. This House Republican budget shows that a lot of the right ideas are out there. We just need q quarterback to take us to the Super Bowl.