Thursday, February 14, 2008

John McCain, Tax-Cutter (You Read that Right)   [Peter Robinson]

Kevin Stach has a column in today's Wall Street Journal that's important—no, make that Important.  Performing a close examination of McCain's record ever since McCain first took the oath as a member of the House of Representatives all the way back in 1983, Stach finds that McCain has proven a reliable, even ardent, tax-cutter.  McCain's 2001 vote against the Bush tax cuts, in other words, amounts to an anomaly, not part of a pattern—and even that looks at least slightly better than it might otherwise seem when understood in context. 

"Two weeks earlier," Stach writes, "Mr. McCain voted to approve the final version of the Budget Resolution — the blueprint used by congressional committees for spending and tax bills — which included $1.35 trillion in tax cuts (the Bush proposal) coupled with a $661 billion cap on discretionary spending. When the promised spending cap never materialized, Mr. McCain denounced the wasteful...spending...and lodged the now famous protest vote against the tax cuts." 

Stach's concluding graf:

Mr. McCain has tried to reassure economic conservatives by pledging to make permanent the tax cuts he initially opposed. Whether Mr. McCain can ultimately convince them remains to be seen, although his 25-year record of supporting pro-growth tax cuts weighs in his favor. If that's not enough, they might consider that the Bush tax cuts are on auto-pilot to expire — and neither a President Clinton nor a President Obama will have to lift a finger to impose a crushing tax hike on America's economy. 

To which I'd add:  If you're not sure McCain really means it when he says he wants to make the tax cuts permanent, take a look at part three of this week's Uncommon Knowledge interview with economist John Taylor, McCain's economic adviser.  For sure he really means it.

02/14 12:39 PMShare