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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
A Rising Tide Lifts All ... Yachts
Shrill election year claims regarding tax policy in a Democratic 110th Congress may be having as muted an effect on voters as credit-taking for the stock market surge and low unemployment.
Democrats are no longer talk about rolling back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy. They are silent about whether or not to extend these cuts, which do not expire for another two years, and say they would push for higher taxes on corporations, particularly oil companies, by eliminating breaks and urging a crackdown on "loopholes," the Wall Street Journal reports.
Similarly, says a Bloomberg article published yesterday:
Republicans who planned to use low unemployment, cheaper gasoline and a surging stock market as a shield against discontent over the Iraq war and congressional scandals are discovering that there's little protection to be had.... In the face of growing concerns about income inequality ... it should be no surprise that voters aren't swayed when Republicans argue that President George W. Bush's $2 trillion tax cuts have produced a sizzling economy.
"The story used to be a rising tide raises all boats, and now it just raises all yachts," speculates Prof. Edward Tufte, a political scientist at Yale University.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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