Direct from Washington, D.C. (where else?) what will certainly be the oxymoron of the year, if not the decade:
Two immovable facts face Democrats on President Obama's fiscal commission: They don't see any way to alleviate the country's debt without raising taxes, and they know most voters hate the thought of any tax increase.
Leading Democrats on the commission tried during the first week of meetings to finesse their way toward a discussion of what they consider inevitable — by arguing that any tax hikes would be “pro-growth.”
Via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, who provides the proper perspective:
There are no such things as “pro-growth tax hikes,” unless they concern the growth of government. As Jon Ward notes, tax hikes take capital out of the private sector and put it in the least efficient hands, that of government bureaucracies. When taxes hit individuals, it gives them less money to spend, creating a recessive impact on the economy. When taxes hit businesses, they pass the costs along to consumer either through higher prices or through staff reductions — either of which create recessive pressure, too. That's why taxation should be limited to only the most necessary of government tasks, which is why the Constitution only allots a limited jurisdiction on the federal government, such as national defense and interstate commerce.
“Pro-growth” tax hikes are as mythical as unicorns and yetis. They're the fairy tale that tax-and-spend politicians tell their children to get them to go to sleep at night. Unfortunately, the American electorate aren't children, and this year they're wide awake.
