McCain’s Economist: We Need Tax Increases

[Wetzelbill]

McCain’s Economist: We Need Tax Increases
By: Cernig on Saturday, September 13th, 2008 at 7:00 PM

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Director of the Congressional Budget Office and current chief McCain economic advisor tells Fortune columnist Matt Miller in a forthcoming book, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas, that the next President is simply going to have to raise taxes.

Joe Klein has an advance copy of the book and the details:

“If you do nothing on the spending side, you’re going to have to raise taxes whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat or a Martian,” he tells Miller…and then he immediately makes it clear that the “spending side” part of the argument is nothing more than a political fig-leaf.

“It’s arithmetic.” Federal revenue today is 18.8 percent of GDP and federal spending is 20 percent. Holtz-Eakin observes that “the pressure are there” to lift spending and taxes to 23 or 24 percent of GDP by around 2020, and to as much as 27 percent if health costs remain out of control.

Miller does the arithmetic: that’s an annual tax hike of $550 to $700 billion, well beyond the range of any spending cuts that McCain has or might propose. (Those vaunted earmarks cost about $20 billion per year.)

So how come, with this guy on board, the McCain campaign is still pushing tax cuts and more tax cuts even if they are fiscal suicide?

“It’s the brand,” he said, “and you don’t dilute the brand.”

How’s that for cynical? Of course, the book isn’t out until after the elections.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/13/mccains-economist-we-need-tax-rises/

[calimary]

1. Well, WE need to make sure it gets out somewhere - before the election.

Excellent post. EVERYONE needs to know about this.

AND everyone needs to know that this is in a book that's being held til after the election, and the author's identity.

[Wetzelbill]

7. exactly right

It'd probably make a good commercial.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. First Greenspan and now him.

[1corona4u]

4. Yeah, just read that earlier...

Greenspan Says McCain Tax Cuts Need Budget Reductions (Update1)

By Scott Lanman

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. can't afford $3.3 trillion of tax cuts proposed by Republican presidential nominee John McCain without similar reductions in the federal budget.

Greenspan, a lifelong Republican and longtime friend of McCain, said on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital With Al Hunt'' that ``I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money.''

McCain has said he would balance the cost of most of his tax cuts with budget reductions, while providing few details beyond eliminating earmarks and other pork-barrel spending, which have totaled about $171 billion since 2001. Democratic nominee Barack Obama is proposing fewer tax cuts and more ambitious spending programs.

Greenspan also said the loss of investor confidence in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. would best be resolved by Wall Street firms acting without federal financial aid. ``If that can be done, that's the ideal solution,'' he said when asked if regulators should pressure private financial institutions to work out the problems at Lehman.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a.BrvyBtV8CM&refer=home

[Wetzelbill]

5. right I saw that too

Interesting.

[Booster]

3. In other words, McCain is lying again. When he says he's gonna

cut taxes, it's not OUR taxes he's gonna cut. It's a tax cut for the rich.

[Wetzelbill]

6. oh he has too much integrity to lie

:)

[ps1074]

9. Of course he is lying

I wish people finally realize that you can't have war without taxes.

Want to get rid of taxes? Then stop starting bullshit wars FFS.

And how about start taxing fucking churches? They are the single biggest scam in this country and the fake fuckers are laughing all the way to the bank.

[thoughtcrime1984]

8. This needs to get out in the public FOR SURE.

The tax boogeyman has caused many a fool to vote GOP. When the tax boogeyman really comes to life and shows to actually be Republican, it should scare the shit out of these people who vote strictly based on their perception of which party taxes higher. McCain continues to LIE his LYING LIAR ass off!!

[PerpetuallyDazed]

10. Graphic for flyers?

This needs to be part of our canvassing material. Does anyone know of where I can find a graphic like the one on CNN for this purpose?

[Wetzelbill]

11. kick