Posted: 07/23/10 01:18
by Dave Mindeman
I often wonder when Republicans talk about Democratic tax proposals with such disdain, why it never seems to be of any consequence for them to propose tax breaks as if they have no repercussions.
So it is with Tom Emmer.
He has a disaster discussing minimum wage, so he says let's make the first $20,000 tax exempt.
He hears that the DFL candidates are reluctant to make veteran pensions tax free because of budget concerns, so he says why not, full speed ahead.
When you have a $5-7 billion deficit looming on the horizon, pandering to everyone you can think of with a tax free money is not exactly fiscally sound judgment.
Now if Mr. Emmer would allow these tax exemptions to be offset with at least an equal amount of tax increase for those that can afford it, then we have a means for making things work.
Veteran pension money and tip money will go back into the economy. We can be confident of that.
On the other hand, discretionary money for the well to do has no such guarantee. They have no need to spend those dollars and they will probably sit on them.
It is equally likely that corporate tax breaks will be of little use to economic activity as well. Corporate America is sitting on a stockpile of cash. In fact a few of the larger banks fattened up their earnings reports by dipping into the cash pile. When analysts got wind of that, the stock market took a dive. (Is there some kind of disconnect between banks and honesty?)
So, the next time Tom Emmer tells us about his next tax exempt windfall for this group or that group, don't get too excited.
Emmer's just winging it.
