Income tax

For those of you who do not remember the first Bush presidency, I remind you that during the campaign he said, “read my lips, no new taxes”. Then when he was president he raised taxes with a promise from the Democrats who controlled both the house and senate to cut spending. Instead of spending cuts he got spending increases and the deficits continued to rise. Yesterday the president came out with his plan to raise taxes saying that spending cuts would follow next year. The president was elected to tax and spend and that is what he plans to do. His plan released yesterday came as a big surprise to the national press and that surprises me. The Republicans will fight this for a while but they will cave. Kind of reminds me of Lucy taking the football away from Charlie Brown. The President suggest 1.6 billion in tax increases over the next ten years and I believe he would like to use that money as grants to states to help pay off their debt in particular to states like California, New York and Illinois. In addition to paying off debt this would allow states to expand state government which means hiring more state employees like teachers, police and firemen. It will not go unnoticed that most of these new hires will be democratic voters. Public employees through their unions have been voting themselves benefits for years and now with the help of this president they have gained influence in the national arena. As long as the press is talking about taxes they are not talking about spending and the debt will continue to rise. The only way out and I believe this will eventually happen, is through economic growth. The great American machine powered by innovation and a solid work force will overcome the shortcomings of government. Call me an optimist.