Wait a minute un, I agree with you about taking our medicine 6-8 years ago, but you were criticizing me at the time for saying we needed to swallow the pill back then. If you recall, I was a vocal critic of the bailouts (too big to fail), TARP, and the auto bailouts. I was also a vocal critic of QE and the easy money policy of the Fed. You were a big fan of TARP and the bank bailouts to get money flowing into the economy. We just kicked the can down the road. If we would have taken our medicine back then (bitter as it might have been), our economy would likely be humming along right now instead of inching along in the worst economic recovery since WWII. Plus, we have banks bigger than ever, and still making bad loans to groups favored by Congress. We have a Fed that is out of control.
Why would you pass a VAT tax? Come on, un, are you nuts? You should support NO significant tax increase unless/until Congress gets its house in order. The reason I said your proposals would lead to bigger government is because those tax revenues aren't going into a "lock box" to pay down the debt, they'll be used by both parties to bribe more constituents, securing their reign of power. I guarantee you the first call would be to use the money for "infrastructure", and we'd have people like, Torbee, calling to use the money for a train from Chi to Ia City which we need as much as we need a migraine headache. Infrastructure is loaded with pork. If state and local citizens want to upgrade their infrastructure, then do it. Stop feeding at the federal government trough where we get bridges to nowhere.
Now, you get Congress to support freezing government spending (adjusted for inflation), then I could support a tax hike of some kind. To keep Congress honest, if they spend more money than the freeze amount, the tax hike automatically is removed. This will hopefully keep them honest and spending in check. In cases of national emergency, war/recession, spending could be increased (without removal of the tax hike) only with approval of 2/3rd support of both the House and the Senate.
I'd support a tax increase, as stated above, because I know the extra money would be going to pay down the debt. We also need to have some sort of entitlement reform. Boomers are getting older and sicker.
