Reuters reports that President Bush claimed Democrats will raise taxes if they take control of the House:
President George W. Bush charged on Thursday that Democrats would raise taxes if put in control of the U.S. Congress, turning to a familiar campaign theme as he seeks to stave off Republican losses in November.
"If they get control of the House of Representatives, they'll raise your taxes. It'll hurt our economy. And that's why we're not going to let them get control of the House of Representatives," Bush said.
Just to review: Under separation of powers, legislation must be approved by the House and Senate and signed by the President. No matter what happens in November, there's no way Democrats could get a 2/3 vote in both houses to override a presidential veto -- and it's hard to imagine Bush agreeing to sign a substantial tax increase. This is a phony threat until at least the end of his term.
During the same speech, Bush also offered yet another insinuation that tax cuts increase revenue: "The best way to balance the budget is to keep pro-growth economic policies in place that are generating additional tax revenues into the Treasury, and be wise about how we spend your money."
But as I've written many times before, tax cuts do not generate "additional tax revenues," as Bush suggests. Virtually all economists agree that they decrease the total amount of revenue taken in by the government, as even Bush's own economists have repeatedly stated in contradiction to his claims.
Comments