I have a lot of respect for Jack Kemp. He was an interesting Vice Presidential candidate who looked like he was awake part of the time (a trick his running mate, Bob Dole, never figured out). He has also been heavily involved in community service in the inner cities.
Unfortunately, Kemp also wrote an article this week that I consider pretty wrongheaded. It's easy to forget, but while we are fighting a war in Iraq, the domestic business of congress continues apace. The President proposed an enormous tax cut program, including about $3 billion to go to a plan to eliminate the "double taxation" on dividends that would largely go to the wealthiest. (Check out this cartoon by Ruben Bollings on the horrors of "Double Taxation.")
Now we are at war, and the strain on our budget is growing. According to "Empty Wallet Economics," perhaps this is a time the Government should be conserving it's money, but Jack Kemp has a different idea. He proposes that the war makes the tax cut even more necessary. "Now is no time to go wobbly on the economy. The Senate should restore the president's full tax cuts to the budget so we can get about the business of making America economically strong enough to bear the burdens that will soon be upon us."
I guess if I believed that tax cuts automatically lead to a stronger economy or increased tax revenue, I'd be in favor of them. But they don't automatically bring in more revenue. So perhaps the Government would be better off saving its pennies for the rainy day that we all know is coming.
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