Guest Blogger: Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) on the Value-Added Tax

Rep. Leonard Lance /

Congressman Leonard Lance (R-NJ)

The presidential Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform convened Tuesday at the White House to address what leaders of both parties agree is one of the greatest threats to the country’s economic future: the rising national debt.  Recently President Obama and members of his economic team voiced their support for a European-style value-added tax, or VAT, as one solution to our ever-growing 13 trillion dollar federal debt.  I flatly reject this suggestion.

A tax-and-spend economic policy that includes a value-added tax is precisely the wrong medicine for our ailing economy and will do little to get our deficits under control over the long-term. (more…)