Keynesian Economics

This is a video on Keynesian Economics I wanted to share with you. The speaker is Daniel J. Mitchell, Ph.D, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, former employee of the Heritage Foundation, and co-author (with Chris Edwards) of "Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It"

He's got a funny voice, but I think the video is still a good explanation of President Obama's basic economic strategy, which he in fact shares a lot in common with President George W. Bush.

In Liberty,

Christopher D. Osborn
Bergen, Hordaland, Norge

Heritage Chart of the previous stimulus.

Here's a neat chart done by the Heritage Foundation showing how stimulus checks last year hardly did anything. They echo what DownSizeDC has said. One time boosts to income don't make people feel comfortable about spending more. It's only a permanent increase in income that makes people feel more like spending. That's why permanent tax cuts for all people paying income taxes is the best way to encourage spending and investment.

Below is their chart showing statistics about the 2003 tax cuts.


As a related side note, I just want to reiterate that the results of the Revanue Act of 1932 shows that higher taxes hurt the economy. Click here for a history of the Great Depression, which shows that while there was slow sustained growth up until 1937, the economy had another recession and only picked up more perminantly when the conservatives got rid of most of the "New Deal" and finally got rid of all of it accept Social Security by 1947.

Also interesting: click here for a relatively short history on how the United States income tax came to be.

In Love and Liberty,
from Bergen, Hordaland, Norge,

Christopher D. Osborn

NoStimulus.com petitions

Here's a message from NoStimulus.com which is of utmost importance if you want to the United States to have a chance at stopping the "stimulus" bill. It is followed by an email I sent to Congressman Bill Delahunt.

Dear Friend,

At 2PM tomorrow afternoon, your NoStimulus.com petitions (which at the moment number 395,047) will be officially presented to the United States Senate in an event at the Capitol. Later in the day, the Senate is expected to make the final vote on the Pelosi/Reid/Obama trillion dollar spending bill.

You're invited to join us for this presentation if you are in or near Washington. It will be held in Upper Senate Park at 2PM tomorrow. I'm sorry we couldn't give you more notice, but moving the vote up to tomorrow was a surprise move by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to try to jam this disastrous bill through before folks can even read the bill.

If someone tells you this fight is over think about this for a moment. Last Friday, I stood at the Capitol with a band of AFP staff, interns and volunteers as we presented our petitions to Senator Jim DeMint -- our free market leader in the Senate. At that time, we had 69,487 petitions.

Tomorrow, we will present your more than 400,000 petitions and -- if you can help us make a final push by sending the site to your friends in next couple of hours – it can be more than 500,000 petitions to the Senate telling them to vote NO on this outrageous spending bill.

Here's the update on where the battle stands.

Senate and House negotiators are set to agree tonight on a $789 billion bill. Here's what we know about the deal:

• This conference report provides the least tax relief of any version yet, even cutting President Obama’s signature middle class tax cut from $500 per individual and $1000 per couple to $400 and $800. That takes money out the pockets of regular Americans to pay for more wasteful spending.

• This conference report gives away as "tax cuts" tens-of-billions of dollars to people WHO DO NOT PAY INCOME TAXES.

• This conference report, by all accounts, still funds the stealth imposition of health care rationing via so-called “Comparative Evaluation Research,” that would let bureaucrats decides whether people are too old or too sick to receive a treatment.

• The price tag is still astonishing. $789 billion might be less than the Senate’s $838 billion, but it’s massively more than the $300 billion this bill originally was proposed at, and still tops a trillion dollars when interest is included. There's still $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $600 million to buy cars for government workers, $88 million for ATV and bike trails and so much more waste. And, go to stimuluswatch.org to see the wish list of earmarks for cities and counties in your area. It will blow your mind.

With a likely Senate vote tomorrow, time is of the essence. These are the key action items that could lead to victory tomorrow:

1. Get at least 3 more people to sign the NoStimulus.com petition. If we have a huge final push we could reach an astonishing half-million signers -- or more -- before our presentation event tomorrow.

2. Make 1 last call to your senator. Many of you have done this and we're so thankful for your standing up. But, we have just 24 hours to make our final push. Call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121 or better yet go on-line and call your Senator's local offices. If you need talking points go to NoStimulus.com and we've got plenty.

3. Consider making a special financial contribution to Americans for Prosperity today. Help us continue to get the word out about the dangers of this no-stimulus bill to literally millions more Americans around the country. Your support will provide resources to ramp up our "No Stimulus" advertising and outreach on websites like the Drudge Report, FoxNews.com, Townhall.com and others for the final day of this fight so we can generate thousands upon thousands of phone calls into Senate offices. A gift of $10, $25, $50 - or any amount you could afford - would go a long way toward reaching even more people with our No Stimulus message and mobilizing them to make a difference alongside you and me to STOP the Pelosi/Reid/Obama boondoggle.

You're making a huge difference. Yesterday, “Americans for Prosperity” and “No Stimulus Petition” were the top two searches in the nation on Google, and your efforts to drive literally hundreds of thousands of people to our NoStimulus.com website was a featured story on the Yahoo! front page. Additionally, today you may have seen the number of petition signers ticking upward along the bottom line of the Fox News “ticker.” You have literally flooded Senate offices with your calls and most of Washington is now going to NoStimulus.com site to view the counter to find out how many folks have signed the petition.

I know the pundits are political prognosticators are saying it's over and the Pelosi\Reid\Obama trillion dollar bill is a done deal.

But, don't be discouraged. Instead, keep fighting. One petition signer from Wisconsin, Carla, sent me an email that says exactly why we should keep fighting. She wrote:

"Tim,

For a week I've been so frustrated over this terrible Stimulus bill. Then in the last day I've called both my senators and my congressman. I've signed the NoStimulus.com petition and then forwarded it to my entire email list. For the first time in my life I even called a local talk radio show to tell people why the bill is so bad.

And you something, I feel so much better because I'm doing all I can do."

Carla is right. We can just be frustrated over what these politicians are trying to do to our nation and our economic freedoms. Or, we can do "all we can do" for our nation.

Thanks and if you are in the area please join us tomorrow, 2PM, Upper Senate Park for the presentation of your petitions to the Senate!!

Sincerely,

Tim Phillips
President, Americans for Prosperity

Here's the bulk of the email I just sent:

Mr. Delahunt, I know you're a Democrat and really want to believe in our new presidents plan to recover our economy, but please listen to reason! The economic recovery plan about to go up for vote will not save our country. All it will do is put is more into debt. There are three ways the Federal Government can pay for the stimulus, and all of them are bad for our economy.

This is coming from a Conservative Libertarian from our dear Massachusetts 10th district. Specifically, the town of Tisbury. If you want to check my voting status before you read on, my name is Christopher David Osborn and my last U.S. address was zipcode 02568, the hamlet of Vineyard Haven in the town of Tisbury in the county of Dukes County.

The first, taxes, takes away money from the people who would otherwise save, spend, or invest it. In an economic crisis higher taxes (for anybody, including the big corporations nobody likes) should be unthinkable. The Revenue Act of 1932 was one of the major reasons the economic problems at the time deepened and lengthened into the Great Depression.

The second, government borrowing, is just as bad! It also takes money out of the private economy - the money that bond purchasers hand over to the government in exchange for bonds. The money people use to buy bonds could be much better served either investing in American businesses, buying American products, or saving in American banks to increase their value.
Also, if the funds are borrowed, we eventually have to pay it back, creating the same tax problems for the next generation - only worse because of interest. Excessive borrowing may also increase interests rates, furthering our credit problem.

The final way to pay for it, without a tax and without borrowing, is to have the Federal Reserve just print more money. This is perhaps the very worst option of all. We cannot just create money out of thin our without it coming back to byte us. Printing more money means the bills and coins we have in our wallets and savings account will be worth less and less. The devaluation of the dollar will eventually lead to us having push wheelbarrows of money to the grocery store just to buy a loaf of bread!
Inflation is the worst thing you could possibly cause! Do you know that the Germans tried to use inflation as a method of war? They attempted to print fraudulent pounds and ship them to the U.K. in order to collapse their economy.

Another reason for you not to pass the bill is for what the money is being spent on. I don't know what it is exactly, but I keep hearing that the massive amount of it is going to buy condoms or some other sex-related thing. One website talks of some kind of adult sex workshop.

There is also supposedly going to be spending by the Department of Agriculture on broadband Internet services in rural areas. First of all, the Ag department has no business dealing with broadband Internet access - my grandfather (the late Rodman F. Backus Jr., founder of Rod's Flowershop & Nursery and Rod's Landscaping on Martha's Vineyard) went to an Ag school and while he was a great and intelligent man he new nothing about computers. Second of all, that the heck is the government doing giving people free Internet?! Sure, it's a good business and educational resource, but do you realise how much of it is just used for porn? I am ashamed to admit this, but honestly, it was not too many years ago when I was one of those porn-addicted teenagers. If rural schools, libraries, and businesses are having problems getting Internet access that's one thing, but I don't want the general public being given free broadband access.

Please, read the bill. If you haven't had time to read the whole thing, demand to be given the time to read it. Once you read it, do not give in if you see anything that's unnecessary. You can do it! If you see something you think is inappropriate for the government to be spending money on, that shout it out and tell the others that you will be voting no unless it is taken out! Stand up for what you know is right and against what you know is wrong! Be the patriot I know you can be!

In Liberty,

Christopher D. Osborn
fipher.blogspot.com
http://www.downsizedc.org
battleforheaven.blogspot.com
http://www.upf.org

Here's hoping for a miracle for our country,

from Bergen, Hordaland, Norge,

Christopher D. Osborn

Are we turning Japanese?

A recent Downsizer Dispatch mentioned a New York Times article about how a 1980's housing bubbler burst in Japan cuase economic turmoil that lead to huge domestic government spending - just as is happen in the United States today. So what happened in Japan? It seems that the spending gave Japan a HUGE debt. The economy was lifted too, but not by all the spending on construction projects and the like. It was instead lifted by an expensive cleanup of their debt-ridden banking system and increased export to to the U.S. and China which did the trick.

So if we are to learn from the Japaniese example, we should not pass these infrastructure spending bills - they will do nothing but create debt, and increased taxes for the next generation, which is myself and my kids and grandkids. We should instead stop barrowing money, pay off all our debts, and pass laws that make in much easier and cheaper for Americans to make things and export them to other countries.

In Liberty from Bergen, Hordaland, Norge,

Christopher D. Osborn

Sourse:

Are We Turning Japanese? - DownsizeDC
Can We Learn from Japan? - Cafe Hayek
Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Lesson - NY Times

Below is a messege from the Heritage Foundation that gives conservatives hope.

January 22, 2009 | By Nathaniel Ward

Heritage on the inauguration of President Obama

Although conservatives ought to remain on their guard over the next four years, Heritage vice-president Mike Franc makes a case for cautious conservative optimism on National Review Online.

Just as only President Nixon could go to China, he suggests, perhaps only President Obama can tackle serious entitlement reform and foreign policy objectives. Perhaps "oenly a man with our new president's liberal pedigree will possess the sort of political capital required to tackle our nation's most pressing and foreseeable challenge," writes Franc.

On the economy, the new administration will have to face the coming spending tsunami as Baby Boomers increasingly qualify for the big three entitlement programs, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. President Obama will have to make the difficult choice between tax hikes, which may be politically harmful, and a real effort to rein in spending.

And on foreign policy and national security, Franc argues that "with intelligence briefings comes maturity." The campaign trail asks candidates to hold up high ideals, but the Oval Office demands prudence, and the President may even embrace a number of positions he derided as a candidate. "If and when he does, the mainstream media will revisit these issues in a more understanding way and begin to explain the tough trade-offs that are required to defend America's interests."

Heritage foreign policy expert Helle Dale puts the new presidency in historical perspective. Other new Presidents —Bush, Reagan, Nixon, and Truman — faced "raging storms, far more worthy of the name than the clouds under which Obama's presidency begins," says Dale.

She continues:

The world Obama inherits today is clearly complex, but thanks to the tireless efforts of his predecessor, far less dangerous than the impression created [in his inaugural address on Tuesday]. Indeed, Obama owes a debt of gratitude to Bush for the tough decisions he has taken to keep this country safe and the sacrifices he made in political capital and personal popularity to do so. Bush may be vilified, even booed by the crowd of Obama supporters on the Mall, but he kept each and every one of them safe from terrorist attacks for seven years…Obama of course questioned those very policies during the campaign and indeed in his speech [Tuesday], postulating a false dichotomy between our safety and our ideals.

Dale concludes that Obama obviously differs from Bush philosophically, but that "how far world events will allow the Obama foreign policy to diverge from that of the Bush years remains to be seen."

Meanwhile, on WorldNetDaily, former Congressman and Heritage distinguished fellow Ernest Istook discusses President Obama's unique position to end race-based victimhood.

Though Barack Obama's election was a watershed in many respects, "America's laws and regulations don't reflect that sense of accomplishment. They remain mired in 1960s thinking and prejudices about race," Istook pointed out. 

Hard choices don't get any tougher than race relations and affirmative action. This certainly meets Obama's inaugural address standard of tackling long-avoided problems.

We have a chance at change for the better. For decades, a catchphrase has been, "If we can put a man on the moon, then why can't we ..." The new version will be, "If we can elect a black president, then why can't we ..."

If President Obama is willing to provide leadership of the right sort, we can heal many of America's racial tensions and still improve upward mobility for Americans of all races and backgrounds. Yes we can.

Finally, Heritage's Foundry blog linked to a humorous but very telling video clip demonstrating how conservativecertain parts of Obama's speech sounded.

— David Talbot

Beach proposes 'stimulus' alternative to Congress

Heritage Foundation economist Bill Beach testified last week before the Economic Recovery Working Group on Capitol Hill about an alternative to the Left's big-government economic "stimulus" package.

Beach suggested an alternative to the Left's plan to spend $850 billion on economic recovery:

1. Extend the 2001 and 2003 tax reductions for as long as possible -- at least through 2013 -- to prevent tax increases. Better yet, make the tax cuts permanent.

2. Reduce tax rates on individuals, small businesses and corporations through 2013 by lowering the top rate by 10 percentage points and reducing rates by similar amounts for taxpayers with lower income levels.

This would give employers the incentive to invest money and create genuinely new jobs.

Heritage's Rob Bluey reports that "the hearing came a week after President-elect Barack Obama invited alternative suggestions for promoting economic growth."

» Read more about the case for a conservative stimulus on MyHeritage.org

From Bergen, Hordaland, Norge,

Christopher D. Osborn

Vote YES on Question 1

Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty has endorsed the The Committee for Small Government's Small Government Act. Before you read the email they sent out though, let me show you exactly what it's going to say on your ballot. I'm an absentee voter, so I've already seen it and voted yes. I sent it off in the mail yesterday, and I hope it gets there on time.

QUESTION 1

LAW PROPOSED BY INITIATIVE PETITION

Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 6, 2008?

SUMMARY

This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.

The personal income tax applies to income received or gain realized by individuals and married couples, by estates of deceased persons, by certain trustees and other fiduciaries, by persons who are partners in and receive income from partnerships, by corporate trusts, and by persons who receive income as shareholders of "S corporations" as defined under federal tax law. The proposed law would not effect the tax due on income or gain realized in a tax year beginning before January 1, 2009.

The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

A YES VOTE would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for the tax year beginning on January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.

A NO VOTE would make no change in state income tax laws.

It is my sincere belief that A YES VOTE on this law would be of great benefit to every citizen of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In fact, I believe that it would have a greater positive impact on the lives of Bay Staters than any other election or law to be decided on on this years ballot.

There are other questions on the ballot which are also very important, such as the presidency (Baldwin or Barr!), as well as QUESTION 2, A YES VOTE would replace criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marjuana with a new system of civil penalties. However, for bay Staters anyway, QUESTION 1 would have the greatest effect, and so I will not be bothered with any further campaigning for any other political cause this voting season.

Now for a message from Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty and The Committee for Small Government.

October 24, 2008

[We wanted to pass along this email from our friends at The Committee for Small Government, who are working hard to end the state income tax in Massachusetts. —Campaign for Liberty]

Two people who share your values. About the writers of the message below:

Carla Howell and Michael Cloud are long-time Ron Paul supporters. They endorsed, campaigned for, donated to, and voted for Ron Paul for President. Carla Howell was a featured speaker at the December 6, 2007 Boston Tea Party Rally for Ron Paul for President at Faneuil Hall (on YouTube). Michael Cloud is a public speaker who has shared the stage with Dr. Paul a dozen times. Both Carla Howell and Michael Cloud joined Dr. Paul as co-plainiffs in the Supreme Court Case against the John McCain/Russ Feingold Campaign Reform Act.

+++++

Urgent Message to You from Two Strong Ron Paul Supporters

from Carla Howell and Michael Cloud

Dear Fellow Supporters of Ron Paul,

Ron Paul campaigned to Repeal the Income Tax – and dramatically shrink the size and power of government. Now you have the opportunity to take the first step to make Ron Paul's dream a reality – by helping us to repeal the income tax in Massachusetts this November 4th.

We are co-sponsors of Ballot Question 1, the legally-binding ballot measure that will END the Massachusetts state income tax.

Maybe you've read articles about our ballot initiative in the 'Wall Street Journal,' 'the New York Times,' 'the Boston Globe,' 'National Review,' 'Reason,' 'CATO,' 'the National Taxpayers Union,' or at LewRockwell.com. Or seen us on CNN or Fox News.

Do we really have a reasonable chance to win? Or is this just another fantasy?

Four different polls show us dead even. One poll shows support for ENDing the income tax at 45% -- with 45% against. 9% undecided. Two other polls show 45% For and 45% Against – with 10% undecided. One strange poll showed 37% For and 37% Against - with 26% undecided.

This is the second time we've put this END the income tax initiative on the ballot. Last time, with a few hundred volunteers - and a total advertising budget of $89,000 – we got 45.3% of the vote. 885,683 votes.

50/50 odds of repealing the state income tax. And a chance of setting in motion a series of state-by-state repeals of income taxes.

Why will Massachusetts voters vote YES – and END the income tax? What are the benefits to them?

1. Our Ballot Initiative will give back over $3,700 each to 3,400,000 Massachusetts workers and taxpayers. $3,700 average. Each worker. Not just once. Every year.

2. It will take $12.6 Billion out of the hands of Massachusetts Big Government – and put it back into the hands of the men and women who earned it. Not just once. Every year.

3. In productive, private hands this $12.6 Billion a year will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in Massachusetts.

4. This will force the state legislature to streamline and cut the waste out of the Massachusetts state spending.

5. This will force the state legislature to get rid of the failed, flawed government programs that don't work – and often make things worse.

6. It'll make the state legislature accountable to Massachusetts workers and taxpayers – instead of the government employees, lobbyists, and special interests who profit from high government spending.

7. With less government and no income tax, Massachusetts will become a magnet to private, productive businesses and individuals. More good jobs and more good workers.

8. And with 3,400,000 Massachusetts taxpayers getting back an average of $3,700 each in their take home paychecks, this just might radically reduce home foreclosures.

Wouldn't these huge, immediate, direct benefits get you to the polls on November 4th?

But there's a huge 900 lb gorilla standing between us and victory.

Who? The Teachers Unions.

Massachusetts Teachers Association, S.E.I.U. (the government employees union), AFL-CIO (who get plush government construction pay), and the other unions who get tax-funded jobs.

Union dues have already bankrolled $2,090,100 of the NO on 1 War Chest. That's 99.93% of the anti tax-cut funding!

In addition, these unions and their allies also reported $443,437 in in-kind donations.

In addition, these unions have mobilized an estimated $1,200,000 worth of paid and unpaid union activists to stop us from ending the income tax.

Plus, with the Massachusetts Teachers Association driving this effort, the unions and their political allies are generating widespread news coverage of Ballot Question 1.

Over 53 newspaper articles and opinion pieces in just the last 10 days!

The unions are very effective. 100% of the newspaper editorials oppose our Ballot Question 1. Over 96% of opinion columns are against us. Over 83% of the newspaper articles are indisputedly against us. The remaining articles usually lean 50% to 70% against Ending the income tax.

Despite our opponents' $2,090,100 in union dues dwarfing our fundraising, despite their several thousand paid and unpaid union activists being over 100 times the number of our volunteers, and despite their overwhelming advantage in Newspaper and TV support –

WE ARE STILL DEAD EVEN IN THE POLLS.

Some polls show us and our opponents each at 45% -- with 10% undecided. One poll shows us and our opponents each at 37% -- with 26% undecided.

With everything they've thrown at us, we're still tied.

With less than three weeks left, we can beat them.

We and our team are doing media interviews, debating our opponents, appearing on talk shows – and we're reaching more and more of the 3,400,000 Massachusetts workers and taxpayers.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association and their allies have already begun as much as $5,000,000 in Negative Ads and Fear Ads in these last 2 or 3 weeks.

To win, we probably need to run $500,000 in our high-impact ads. Or as close to that amount as we can.

We have $49,816 in the bank. We need to raise $450,000 immediately – if not sooner.

Our ads can tip the scales – and give us victory for the taxpayers.

We've developed and tweaked an advertising language, message and approach that's viral. Contagious. Infectious. Persuasive and unforgettable to Massachusetts taxpayers.

Each $20,000 in advertising will produce an additional $40,000 in positive news coverage, publicity, and word of mouth.

Together, you and we CAN win if you donate as much as you can, if your donation helps us run just 10% of the advertising our opponents are running.

Join us, and be an indispensible member of the Army of Davids that ENDS the Massachusetts income tax in less than 3 weeks.

Will YOU please contribute $500 or $250 or $150 right now – so we can produce and place the first wave of advertising?

If you are successful in your career, if you have enough cash or credit to make a larger donation, you will make a huge difference. Will you please donate $10,000 or $5,000 or $2,500 or $1,000 today?

Your donation is our advertising budget – to END the income tax. It's our campaign budget.

Other Ron Paul donors are counting on YOU to give what they are giving. To join them. They need YOU to donate now. Will you please donate $85 or $65 or $45 today?

Even $5 will help.

Don't wait. Please contribute now by credit card by clicking on "Donate" at our web site:

www.SmallGovernmentAct.org

Or please write your check today and mail it to:

The Committee For Small Government
6 Goodman Lane
Wayland, MA 01778

Make history. Make a donation today.

You will remember this for many, many years. Thank you.

Small government is possible.

Your friends and allies,

Carla Howell & Michael Cloud

Co-Sponsors, Ballot Question 1 to END the Income Tax

Please keep in mind that this project is not run by the Campaign for Liberty. All questions and other items of business should be taken care of by contacting those in charge through the information given on their website. Also‚ because we are not in charge of this project‚ Campaign for Liberty cannot make any guarantees about it. However‚ it is our opinion that this is a worthy cause. By participating in this project, you take full responsibility for any issues arising from that participation.

I sincerely hope that all who read this do what they can to have this bill passed. Most importantly, if you're eligible to vote, please remember to do so this Tuesday November 4th. Your vote DOES matter, especially in reguards to this closely devided issue.

Latest DownsizeDC Quote

From the Washington Post's annual Mensa Invitational, in which readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here's one of the winners:

"Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with."

This came as the header for the latest Downsizer Dishpatch, DownsizeDC's newsletter. This letter was a nice short was, just talking about the new servers they would be getting and letting us all now that their July Buget decreased substantially because of the great deal they found on the new servers. It's the last day of the month, but they stil need just $563 USD more to pay for what they spent this month.

If you want to help out, you can contribute here.

It also talked about the other great progress they're making, with 50,000 messeges to Congress and 571 new DC Downsizers (DownsizeDC members) this moonth. Both are record breakers for the nonprofit political movement.

Mostly I just wanted to share that first quote though. Hope you enjoyed!

Sincerely, in Liberty and True Brotherly Love,

Christopher D. Osborn - Edgartown, MA.

Don't Raise Taxes!

First, we have something from the Heritage Foundation's email newsletter on taxes and the economy. The Heritage Foundation is, from what I understand so far, a political group focused on keeping alive Reagen conservatism. Honestly, I think I'm even a little more conservative than our past president Reagan, but I think his ideas were definitely a step in the right direction compared to most modern Republicans and Democrats.

Three myths about the Clinton tax hikes

Out on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress, liberals are announcing plans to raise taxes—above and beyond the massive hike resulting from the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. They argue that tax hikes can benefit the economy. For evidence, they point to the economic growth in the 1990s after President Clinton’s 1993 tax hike.

» Take our poll: Did the Clinton tax increases boost the economy as liberals claim?

This is bad economics, Heritage tax expert J.D. Foster explains in a new analysis.

There are three myths at the center of the liberal argument for tax hikes.

• Myth 1: The economy recovered from recession because of the 1993 tax increase.
  
  Fact: “The tax increase probably slowed the economy compared to the growth it would have achieved” without the hikes, Foster writes. While the economy did grow after 1993, this was hardly due to the tax increases, since “much in the context of the 1990s was conducive to prosperity.”

• Myth 2: The late-1990s boom resulted from the 1993 tax cuts.
  
  Fact: The 1997 cuts to the capital gains tax rate, not the 1993 tax increases, sparked the strong growth of the late 1990s. After the prolonged recovery from the 1992 recession, Foster concludes “it was not a moment when one would expect growth to accelerate.”

• Myth 3: The 1990s show we can raise taxes today without economic consequence.
  
  Fact: The 1990s demonstrate that tax cuts, not tax hikes, are the key to economic growth. Congress should therefore, at a minimum, not allow the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to expire. They certainly shouldn’t pile more taxes onto an already struggling economy. “Taxes are now above their historical average as a share of the economy, and are rising,” Foster notes.

Second, we have a video of Carla Howell, Chairman for the Committee for Small Government, on her organization's movement to end the Massachusetts income tax.



I recommend taking a look at their website, smallgovernmentact.org, for more information.