One of the great linguistic crimes of the left in recent years is their attempt to hijack the term “tax cut” to refer to what are, in essence, payoffs to specific constituencies.<\/p>\n
During the 2000 and 2004 elections, in a spate of almost-honesty trumping marketing, the Gore and Kerry campaigns referred to them as “targeted tax cuts” – allowing the audience to ask “Targeted?\u00a0 At whom or what?”<\/p>\n
The answer, of course:\u00a0 anyone whose vote the Democrats want to buy.<\/p>\n
As a Republican, of course, I favor across-the-board cuts in both taxes and spending.\u00a0 I also acknowledge that many of the most popular tax cuts that fall short of that goal are “targeted”, in a sense.\u00a0 The Mortgage Interest Deduction is targeted at homeowners; Capital Gains Tax cuts are aimed at stockholders and others who directly or indirectly buy or sell investment securities, equities or property; the Death Tax is aimed at people who die.\u00a0 These have one thing in common; they affect the vast majority of the American people, most of whom own houses and participate in the market (directly or via their 401K funds, and all of whom will eventually enter the probate and inheritance system, presuming the Democrats leave them any property to bequeath).\u00a0 Home owners, direct and indirect investment and probate cross all party, demographic, regional and social lines.<\/p>\n
Democrats’ “targeted cuts”, however, try to slice the pie into much finer slices, each of them a constituency they need, essentially to rebate some of the cost of the higher spending back to the groups, classes and other slices they need to keep happy.<\/p>\n
Hence Al Franken and his proposal to give a post-secondary tax deduction, which Aaron Landry misleadingly labels a “tax cut”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From a Franken press release<\/a>\u00a0today:<\/p>\n
A college diploma is more than a dream for Minnesota families – it\u2019s practically a requirement for middle-class prosperity. But with George W. Bush in the White House and Norm Coleman in the Senate, that prosperity has slipped out of reach for Minnesota\u2019s middle class. My tuition tax cut will bring college within reach for 10 million students nationwide. And it will take a step towards restoring America\u2019s middle-class promise: that hard work can bring prosperity to your\u00a0family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Landry:<\/p>\n
The average student loan debt in Minnesota jumped over $6K during the first three years of Coleman<\/a>\u00a0and is the 5th in the nation. Coleman\u2019s continually voted against students, such as letting tuition tax deduction expire, opposing $4.9 billion for Pell\u00a0grants.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n