This content is provided by The Americans for Tax Reform Foundation.

With today’s dismal jobs report, it is quite clear that the economy is continuing to suffer under failed economic policies. The so-called stimulus (better known as the give-away to Obama’s friends) and the looming tax increases in 2013 are dragging the economy down like an anchor. Today’s unemployment number of 8.2%, which is bad in and of itself, does not take into account the countless Americans that have been jobless for so long that they have given up on looking for a job. The high-tax, high-spending economic policies have been a failure during this recession.

These terrible economic numbers should be thought of every time a politician wants to raise taxes and further harm the economy. This will be especially important in the near future when they start talking about “fixing the deficit.”

Not only should we be wary of this for the sake of our economy, we should question whether raising taxes would even work to fix the deficit.

Just yesterday, Connecticut’s government announced that “Despite the largest tax increase in Connecticut’s history, the state is projected to finish the fiscal year with an operating deficit of $192 million”

Just in case that needs to be repeated: The state government attempting to take more money away from the private sector through higher taxes, but it still ended up with a massive budget deficit.

In the 2011-2013 biennial budget in Connecticut, there were a number of tax changes. Taxes on income above $100,000 were increased, the sales tax was increased to 6.35%, room occupancy tax increased to 15%, and the rental tax increased to 9.35%. They also did away with a number of tax exemptions and added a number of services that will qualify for sales and use tax.

Largest tax increase in Connecticut’s history, indeed. But no fix for their massive deficit.

So when you hear a politician claim that the only way to fix the deficit problem is to raise taxes on the American people, think of Connecticut: huge tax increases, but still a huge deficit.

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