ONLY ONE PAGE IN THE PLAYBOOK…. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), one of the Senate’s most right-wing members, has an idea on what would stimulate the economy even more. Take a wild guess what it is. (via John Cole)
“What we need to do is what I’ve proposed and many Republicans is, first of all, we stop this tax explosion that’s scheduled for next year,” DeMint said during an appearance on Fox News. “The Bush tax cuts expire. Every tax that you can think of goes up — capital gains, alternative minimum, marriage penalty. It all comes back into play.”
But DeMint said that if Congress wants to really create jobs, it should slash the 35 percent rate currently faced by the wealthiest individuals and corporations (i.e., with an income in 2009 higher than $373,000).
“But we also need to just cut the top marginal rate for individuals and corporations so that we’re more competitive and companies can look way out in the future and know they’ll have a competitive tax rate,” DeMint said.
I often wonder how someone as far gone as DeMint perceives recent events. Clinton raised taxes, but it didn’t stop the economy from flourishing while the deficit disappeared entirely. Bush cut taxes, but it didn’t stop the economy from crashing while the deficit reached new depths. This year, Obama’s stimulus package, which DeMint strongly opposed and which prevented a depression, included tax cuts and spending increases, but the far more effective measure for improving the economy was the spending.
And while DeMint and his Teabagger buddies claim to want to focus on deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility, he steps up with another call for slashing taxes even more irresponsibly than Bush/Cheney.
DeMint is, I suppose, the ideal Tea Party leader — there’s just no seriousness of thought to any of his ideas.
