Tax day by the numbers
From Reason TV (via Suitably Flip): “W2-WTF!?!: Tax Facts to Make Your Head Explode”
“Number of words you can’t say on television: 7.
“Number of words in ‘Atlas Shrugged:’ 645,000.
“Number of words in the tax code: 3,700,000.”
It is outrageous. But as Karl Rove noted in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, it’s been 15 years since federal taxes were increased (the streak ended on April 1 when the children’s health care cigarette tax became law). People are apathetic to federal tax hikes because, well, there haven’t been many in a while.
“If that anger persists, it may give Republicans a leg up in the 38 gubernatorial elections over the next two years, as well as in key state legislative races that will determine which party redraws congressional and state legislative districts after the 2010 census. Expect voters to hear a lot about jobs being created in low-tax states in the coming years.
“But the center of the debate is in Washington, not the states. The fear of future federal tax hikes is fueling the tea-party movement.
“This is an important development. In 2008, voters were less worried about taxes than they had been in previous elections. Why? Because the 15 years between President Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax hike and Barack Obama’s increase in cigarette taxes in February was the longest stretch in U.S. history without a federal tax increase. President George W. Bush’s tax cuts also cut 13 million people on the lower-end of the income scale from the income tax rolls — people who don’t pay taxes aren’t worried about the tax burden.”
The tax battles during the next two years — at least the ones with any real legs — will likely be in the states. Take California. The Legislature and our RINO governor just imposed the largest tax increase in U.S. history.
