A Frum Forum survey asked attendees of the March 16th Tea Party demonstration on Capitol Hill whether federal taxes are higher, lower or the same as when Barack Obama was inaugurated last year. The survey found that more than two-thirds of respondents thought that taxes are higher today, and only 4% thought they were lower; the rest said they are the same.
It's incredible. One could make the argument that spending is so high that it will eventually require higher taxes to close the deficit and pay off debt, however, this is unlikely the thought process of people who are so clearly off base.
And yet, despite some fears of a "tea party revolt" against the hand full of moderate Republicans left in Congress, the GOP is based on the support of these people. Take my esteemed colleague, David Blaska, whose understanding of policy is about as nuanced as the talking points he used to read for his former employer, Gov. Tommy Thompson.
Why has the party of Jack Kennedy, wealthy tax cutter that he was, forgotten that a rising tide lifts all boats?
It's apparently been replaced by the party of Barack Obama, the middle-class tax cutter.
[F]ederal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president. And given the economic circumstances, it's hard to imagine that a tax increase would have been enacted last year. In fact, 40% of Obama's stimulus package involved tax cuts.
