Today, 154 Republicans joined me on a letter to the President’s debt commission asking them to stand against a new value-added tax, or VAT. I’m proud to see our Conference unite against a tax that’s being pushed by Paul Volcker, John Podesta, and Nancy Pelosi.
The VAT is clearly a job killer. While in the last 20 years American businesses created 45 million jobs, the European economy only created 10 million. The healthcare bill moved us toward European levels of government, but now liberals want European taxes to pay for it. The big problem is that new taxes will severely impede the dynamism of our economy.
I’m glad that so many of my colleagues are willing to sign their name to a strong statement opposing the VAT. Many in Washington see the President’s debt commission as a way to bring in the VAT. We need to stand together and make sure that the commission is not just another way for Democrats to centralize control of our economy in Washington.
The simple fact is that a VAT is not a solution to our debt problem. We have unsustainable levels of government and new taxes won’t do the job of balancing the budget. European nations with the VAT have not used the revenue to pay off their debt. Greece, Spain, Portugal, and other countries going through fiscal crises all gradually raised their VAT rates while ignoring the real problem—spending.
If we want to balance our budget and create new jobs, we have to get a handle on our out of control spending and entitlement programs. I hope the President’s debt commission recognizes that new taxes, like the VAT, are not the solution.
?The views expressed by guest bloggers on the Foundry do not necessarily reflect the views of the Heritage Foundation.
