Don't Believe Senator Evan Bayh
Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) said he voted against permanent repeal of the Death Tax because it would only add to the federal deficit.
Hmmm...let's ignore the fact that the Death Tax inhibits economic growth, and that by repealing it, tax collections would probably increase, not decrease.
Instead, let's use the static logic employed, I presume, by Senator Bayh. The Death Tax brought about $24 billion into the federal treasury in 2005. That's a tiny 1.1% of all net tax collections for that year. Death tax revenue for 2006 will probably be similar, if not slightly higher.
If Bayh was truly worried about the federal deficit, then he wouldn't have voted YES on the Highway bill last year that contained $24 billion in wasteful pork projects. And he wouldn't have voted YES on the war supplemental bill which contained $10 billion in egregious pork. And he wouldn't have voted NO on the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which trimmed a modest $40 billion from the budget.
I can go on and on and on. In fact, let's do.
If Bayh was interested in cutting the deficit, he wouldn't have voted YES on a Specter amendment that increased spending on social programs by $7 billion. And he wouldn't have voted YES to increase Amtrak funding by $550 million. And he wouldn't have voted YES on a Boxer amendment that would increase spending by $500 million for more social programs.
Politicians like Bayh pray on the hope that voters have a short-term memory. They say one thing to the press, but do the opposite in Washington. They want to raise taxes so that they can satisfy their big-spending proclivities. The examples I gave above are only a small slice of the largesse that Bayh consistently votes in favor of in the Senate. When he says he's worried about the deficit, it's all hot air. Don't believe him.
