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OPINION

You Cut Taxes, You Don't Raise Them

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When former Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY) recently turned to former President Bill Clinton for advice, most people chuckled as it seemed the proverbial pot was calling on the kettle to talk about its blackness. 

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It seems when the Democrats get into trouble, they always turn to the elder statesman for advice, and in this instance, I’m sure the former President gave sage wisdom. 

So it’s only natural that Democrats want to revisit the 1990s, to support a tax increase on the rich as taxes were raised on Clinton’s watch, with no ill effects they say.   

Clinton’s action at that time has now given the current crop of Dems the ammo to point out that job growth in the 1990s was truly stunning.  But it was the capital gains tax-cut, enacted by a Republican Congress and signed by Clinton that really unleashed the growth in the economy.  

It created additional revenue a budget surplus in spite of higher income and use taxes. 

At that time, too, our nation was evolving from a manufacturing society to an information-driven society. 

The internet, with all its websites, chat rooms, and information hosting, was just being born.  Computers took on a whole new look, and Silicon Valley became the Mecca for the entrepreneurial spirit of America. 

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Millions of jobs were being created, a sea change driven by the burgeoning new economy. 

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However, as the information age matured, the quest for ever greater profits drove more and more jobs offshore. 

Government, in its quest for more revenue, taxed and regulated in its traditional fashion, and soon, growth became stagnation. 

Where will the next all-encompassing movement come from?  (Please don’t tell me Green.) 

It appears nothing is on the horizon, and the sooner politicians realize it, the sooner they’ll realize that increased taxes are just another nail in the job creation coffin. 

The powers must understand that a job is a result of a business need, and the decision where to domicile that job is the only question. 

Currently, there is no incentive to bring back jobs to America, and that’s the problem. 

With no new industry on the horizon, it becomes a matter of bringing back the lost jobs. 

The millions of jobs are there, just in the wrong country, and an increase in taxes will not change that fact. 

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The success in the 1990s was not because of the Clinton tax increase; the success was in spite of the Clinton tax increase.

As Clinton’s own history shows, you cut taxes to stimulate growth. You don’t raise them


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