Tea Party for Growth

Commentary by Dick Young

Senator Jon Kyl has written a very good piece in this morning’s Wall Street Journal. He points out that consumer spending can only take an economy so far. Attempts to boost consumer spending beyond the large fraction of the U.S. economy it already represents are misguided. Kyl calls for a “growth,” agenda, and I echo that call. America doesn’t need rampant consumption to affect an economic turnaround, it needs smart investment.

Kyl calls for a policy of lowering tax rates to spur job-creating business. This is a good idea, but spending cuts by the federal government must also be kept in mind. Ireland is right now facing the backlash of lowering tax rates to encourage business, but not holding firm on cutting spending to match. Now the Irish government may have to raise taxes to fill its budget gaps, killing the advantages it had created for itself as a business haven.

Any reevaluation or change to the tax code should include the removal of most deductions and tax credits in favor of a lower flat tax. Everyone should be paying the same rate, no free rides for those with great tax lawyers. The back door welfare payments created by so-called “refundable tax credits,” should also be eliminated. The tax code does not exist to reward favored interest groups, and welfare shouldn’t be labeled as a tax cut. Even low-income earners should pay their fair share. Everyone uses the roads and the services of the U.S. government, and low-income earners use them disproportionately so.

Americans intuitively know this is the right direction for their country. They are standing up and fighting for political candidates that want to lower taxes, streamline the tax code, and cut spending to match. They gave Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle $14 million in the third quarter. Angle is running to replace Harry Reid as Nevada’s senator. Almost 200,000 people have donated to Angle’s campaign, making her third quarter numbers a record for a Nevada Senate race. No one wants to see Harry Reid take control of the Senate again in January when a new Congress begins.

Outside groups are playing a huge roll in this year’s election. Groups like the Tea Party Express have contributed to Angle and other tea party candidates around the country with the hope of dislodging not only Democrats, but the Republican Party establishment as well. Throwing the bums out doesn’t stop on one side of the aisle.

Get the Facts Mr. President – E.J. Smith

You can’t make this up. President Obama’s claim that foreign companies are influencing the election is as Alinsky-like as it comes and turns the office of the President into ground-zero for dirty Chicago style politics. A little fact checking would help. In the 2010 election cycle, foreign-connected political action committees (PACs) have given more money to Democrats than to Republicans. How about the special interest groups that Obama complains about? Take a look at the top five 527 advocacy groups giving money in the 2010 Elections: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Food & Commercial Workers Union, American Federation of State/County/Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Friends of America Votes, and the Operating Engineers Union.