Today, a broad coalition of center-right organizations released a joint letter calling on Republican leaders in Congress to block any attempt to raise taxes in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. The letter reminds lawmakers of the budget deals of 1982 and 1990 that raised taxes but failed to deliver on promises to cut spending. In part, the letter states:
“Our organizations represent millions of tea party and limited government activists and scholars from around America. We are all united in one opinion about the on-going debt limit negotiations—tax increases need to be ‘off the table,’ since Washington, D.C. has an over-spending problem, not an under-taxing problem.
Washington, D.C. already spends too much of our money. The historical level of federal government spending has been 21 percent of economic output. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), federal spending will be 23-24 percent of economic output each year for the rest of this decade, and then balloon to over 30 percent in the next few decades. Higher taxes to fuel President Obama’s super-sized welfare state will only make this problem worse.
America has a fiscal crisis because Washington spends too much, not because it taxes too little. According to CBO, tax revenues will reach or exceed the historical average of 18 percent of economic output by the end of this decade, even as spending continues to careen out of control. Raising taxes would kill jobs, wreck any hope of an economic recovery, and simply serve to enable an out of control spending elite in Washington, D.C.
Grand compromises to cut spending and hike taxes have failed in the past. In 1982, President Reagan was promised $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes. The tax increases happened, but President Reagan was still waiting for the promised spending cuts when he left office. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush was promised $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes. He broke his “Read My Lips” tax pledge at Andrews Air Force Base, but CBO numbers prove that not a single penny of the promised spending reductions was realized. Putting tax increases on the table now will only result in real tax hikes on American employers and families, and phony spending cut promises that never get realized. The focus must be on spending, and spending alone.”
Signatories to the letter include (organizational affiliations listed for information purposes only):
Jim Martin of 60 Plus Association
Dick Patten of American Family Business Institute
Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity
Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform
Duane Parde of National Taxpayers Union
Susan Carleson of The Carleson Center for Public Policy
Brian Burch of CatholicVote.org
Mario Lopez of Hispanic Leadership Fund
Timothy Lee of Center for Individual Freedom
Andrew Quinlan of Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Chuck Muth of Citizen Outreach
Chip Faulkner of Citizens for Limited Taxation
Richard Viguerie of Conservative HQ
Gary Marx of Faith and Freedom Coalition
Rick Watson of Florida Center-Right Coalition
Jimmy LaSalvia of GOProud
Nicole Neily of Independent Women’s Forum
Tom Giovanetti of Institute for Policy Innovation
Bob Adams of League of American Voters
Colin Hanna of Let Freedom Ring
Seton Motley of Less Government
Amy Ridenour of The National Center for Public Policy Research
William Shaker of Republican Pac
William Greene of RightMarch.com
Karen Kerrigan of Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
Rick Hendrix of ClearWord Communications Group
Sam Slom of Smart Business Hawaii
David Williams of Taxpayer’s Protection Alliance
Mattie Corrao of Center for Fiscal Accountability
Lisa Miller of Tea Party WDC