Wishful Thinking at AP: 'Some Argue' That Jan. Tax Increases Won't Be Harmful, Because They 'Can Be Addressed Retroactively'
One useful interpretation of a journalist's use of "some people say that" or "some argue that" without an accompanying reference to or quote from a subject matters expert is that such phrases really mean "in my opinion."
This is the very likely case in a disingenuously headlined Associated Press story yesterday by Andrew Taylor concerning the standoff between the Republicans, who want the current income tax structure continued for at least another year, and Democrats, including President Obama, who want to raise taxes (they describe it as "ending the Bush tax cuts," which fully went into effect over nine years ago) on "the rich," currently defined as people making $200,000 or more per year. Taylor put the following statement out there without identifying any economist or political analyst who might agree with it (because I doubt there are many, or even any):
Democrats seek leverage as fiscal cliff looms
... On taxes, on the other hand, some argue that the impact of the fiscal cliff won't be too dramatic since most of the increases taking effect Jan. 1 can be addressed retroactively.
Substituting "in my opinion" for "some argue that" seems to work pretty well in this instance.
Taylor's "some argue that" assertion is absurd.
Effective January 1, 2013, if nothing is done, tens of millions of Americans will be taking home less money in their paychecks. They will mostly spend less, which will slow down the economy. Some will borrow more, creating or increasing the interest charges they must pay, which will be money not spent on consumption or invested in an enterprise. Nothing subsequently done in March, April, or June will change the fact that the economy slowed down in January.
Lots of named people, including Arthur Laffer and Ford M. Scudder yesterday in Monday's Wall Street Journal, are making that commonsense argument. Their opening contention: "The United States faces an economic collapse thanks to massive tax increases on Jan. 1, and continued deficit spending for years on end."
The headline at a Monday Investor's Business Daily editorial yesterday described the situation perfectly: "Look Who's Holding the Economy Hostage Now."
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
"Some people say...", "Many people believe...",
Submitted by johnsonl on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 9:40am.
...that whatever follows that statement is an opinion and has absolutely no basis in fact.
In other words, bullshit.
Either that, or both those
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 10:53am.
Either that, or both those phrases translate to "My friends and I."
If they cannot Tax, they won't Relax
Submitted by Free Stinker on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 9:51am.
Liberals have been trying to kill the Bush Tax Cuts for nearly a decade now.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Have to disagree Free,
Submitted by Agnostic on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 9:57am.
Liberals have been making the Bush Tax Cuts a political ploy for nearly a decade without actually wanting to kill them - at least not when the resultant economic hit won't be blamed on a Republican President. It is the whole 'No New Taxes' ploy the DNC/Media play to show the Dems being for the middle class by staging a big show of class warfare but when they are clear to blame someone else they will be more than happy to tank the economy for political gain.
Kind of like tobacco taxes.
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 10:52am.
They supposedly hate tobacco, but they need it around for the taxes.
They supposedly "hate" the Bush tax cuts, but they know they work, and they need to have them around for the purpose of demagoguery.
Funny thing about raising the
Submitted by inquiringmind on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 10:02am.
Funny thing about raising the tax rates on the $200,000+ crowd. It is for "fairness" reasons, not economic. The amount of money that will come into the Treasury as a result is like swatting a fly on an elephants arse.
This is especially true in light of the fact that Obama wants another round of spending.
More like …
Submitted by JeffC... on Tue, 07/17/2012 - 10:16am.
More like trying to swat the fly and missing. Remember when Maryland passed a tax increase on the rich, and the taxes paid on that group of the rich went down?
Now Maryland is raising taxes on a new set of rich because they didn't get enough money from that first group. That's what's going to happen on the federal level--for fairness, of course.