From ATR’s Patrick Gleason on The Daily Caller: “There are only six governors who think it would be prudent to raise taxes at this time. Unfortunately for Connecticut taxpayers, despite being home to the costliest state government and third-highest state and local income tax burdens in the country, first-term Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) is one of those six… While President Obama and Congressional Democrats have owned up to the fact that the U.S. corporate tax rate — the highest in the developed world — must be reduced in order to increase competitiveness and foster job creation, Gov. Malloy has not shared in this wisdom.”
The “Gang of Six” is running out of time, as highlighted by Meredith Shiner for POLITICO: “[Senator] Coburn was harshly criticized last week by conservative icon Grover Norquist for even considering tax reform. Though members will not say so specifically, revenues are clearly a significant sticking point in the negotiations, as evidenced by the public battle between Coburn and Norquist and the fundamental GOP belief expressed by McConnell and others that the problem isn’t ‘taxing too little; it’s spending too much.’”
In The Daily Caller, Grover Norquist supports new legislation to unravel unfunded Medicaid mandates to states: “‘This is a particularly-bad time for states to be prevented from enacting meaningful reforms,’ Norquist wrote in a letter to the sponsoring members. ‘Failure to reform Medicaid in a way that relieves future generations of unfunded spending promises is irresponsible, but Washington telling states they cannot enact these reforms is even worse.’”