Karl Rove: Obama, taxes and the GOP

Highlights of Karl Rove and his weekly Wall Street Journal article.

“…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. So far, Mr. Obama has decided to let the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011 and avoid forcing Democrats to take a tough vote. But the tea parties reveal how hard it will be for the president to hide the Democrats’ tax-and-spend tendencies from voters.Mr. Obama plans to boost federal spending 25% while nearly tripling the national debt over 10 years. Americans know that this kind of spending will have economic consequences, including new taxes being imposed by the new progressives…”

“The 2009 Tax Foundation survey found that Americans believe that taxes should, on average, take just 15.6% of a person’s wages. And 88% of Americans in the same poll believe that there should be a cap on all federal, state, and local taxes of 29% or less — there is still a constituency out there that will favor tax cutting politicians.

But to tap into that constituency Republicans will have to link lower taxes to money in voters’ pockets, and economic growth and jobs. They must explain why the GOP approach will lead to greater prosperity. Such arguments are not self-executing. They require leaders to make them, time and again, as Reagan once did.”