The first meeting of Obama's Deficit Commission was held today and it looks like (no surprise here) everything is on the table. Need a direct quote? Obama: "Everything has to be on the table." In case you missed it, we sent out a vote alert back in January opposing the Conrad-Gregg Commission because it would virtually guarantee recommendations of tax hikes to pay for Congress' unbridled spending spree. The Conrad-Gregg amendment failed, but then the President issued an executive order and set the Commission in place.
The Commission's job is to produce a deficit no bigger than $550 billion by 2015, and serious talks of a Value-Added Tax (VAT) continue to brew. Here is a little more information on the VAT from a previous post of mine. This has been our fear from the beginning because we saw these tax hikes as an inevitability, not merely a possibility.
Now, don't get me wrong, we wholeheartedly support a bipartisan, bicameral commission dedicated to finding ways to reduce wasteful, low-priority, and unsustainable government spending. That's why we sent a letter of support to Senator Ensign for his Commission for Fiscal Sustainability Act. His bill would do virtually the same thing as the Obama Commission, but here is the key difference: it specifically prohibits the Commission from raising taxes!
As the Commission convenes throughout the year, I hope its members will remember that we MUST reduce the tax burden on individuals if we are to ensure long-term economic prosperity.
Might I suggest we start unloading that table?