"I don’t think Democrats should mention the T-word for two or three years"

Rep. Jim Cooper D-TN

Jim Cooper is actually probably the least liberal Democrat in Congress. He has actually voted for many of the earmark reductions that I or Jeff Flake (R-AZ) have offered. But what he said here is very revealing. The "T-word" of course is taxes. The message is that Democrats ought to wait until after the next election before they do what they really want to do because raising taxes is not popular. In other words, hide your real agenda from the public because they won’t like what they hear. I have often said that the greatest fear for Republicans is that the public won’t understand what we’re saying. Democrats, on the other hand, fear that the public will understand what they are saying.

If you listen, you will hear what they are saying. And what they are saying is pretty scary. They want to raise your taxes, give lots of benefits to union bosses, and lose in . They are still not being as direct as they will be if they have their way, but here’s some of what they have already said or done in 7 short months in power:

For The Union Bosses:

• One of the few spending reductions proposed by the majority in this Congress has been to cut the budget of the agency within the Department of Labor whose job it is to investigate potential illegal activity by unions. I guess that’s the one place where we need less labor law enforcement?
• They did dramatically increase spending in a program designed to promote and encourage union organizing in this and other countries.
• They passed a bill to override any state laws (like Virginia ) where they do not have unions of employees who work for the government. In Virginia , they believe that you should not create unions for the sole purpose of lobbying its employer/government to pay them more. This bill would override that state position.
• They passed a bill to eliminate secret ballots in union organizing elections allowing and encouraging the union intimidation tactics of the 40’s. They call it "card check" but supporters of workers having freedom to be union or non-union call it the "worker intimidation act of 2007."
• They added provisions in numerous bills to require that wages be paid that are equal to union-scale wages whenever there is government involvement. By requiring union-scale wages, they eliminate a major cost advantage that a non-union competitor might have against a union shop. One example of the application of this "prevailing wage" law is that they voted to apply it in the Farm Bill to any private ethanol producer if the that producer uses any corn grown by a farmer who received a federal subsidy.

To Increase Taxes: 

• Tripling the federal tax on cigarettes and cigars to $1 per pack or per cigar to pay for socialized medicine.  
• Putting a tax on private health insurance to pay for socialized medicine and to provide a disincentive to not be in the government system.  
• Eliminating the capital gains tax rate on private equity firms that go public and thereby increasing their tax rate from 15% to 35%.
• Huge tax increase on the subsidiaries of foreign owned companies. This tax violates 58 tax treaties we have with our allies and will almost certainly result in retaliatory taxes on foreign subsidiaries of companies doing business in any of those 58 countries.
• A number of tax increases on the domestic production of oil and gas. Of course, foreign production of oil and gas will not be touched by these proposals so this will simply increase that foreign dependence and further raise the price of energy.
• A huge increase in the in the Alternative Minimum Tax for all families or businesses with incomes over $250,000 per year.
• And of course, as part of their 5 year enacted budget plan, the elimination of all the tax reductions put into effect this century including raising the marriage penalty, all tax rates and elimination of the 10% lowest tax rate, raise capital gains taxes back to 20%, raise taxes on dividend income from 15% up to 40% and a reduction in the child care tax credit.

To Lose in Iraq: 

• "I believe that this war is lost" – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
• "…..it would be a problem for us"  – House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) commenting on how Democrats would react if General Patreus reports improving conditions in in September.
• “as in some way or another that it’s a place that I might want to take the family for a vacation – things are going so well – those kinds of comments will in fact show up in the media and further divide this country"  – Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-KS) ridiculing retired Army General Keane for his positive comments about progress on the ground in Iraq and suggesting that he should not say such things because the media might print it.

During this August recess, you are unlikely to hear Democrats bragging about how many taxes they have voted to raise. They will not trumpet all the union proposals they have championed, except within the hallowed halls of the union bosses offices. And they will officially hope for improvement in the war on terror.

But their actions and their words betray their true intentions.

Don’t forget it.

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.