I don’t mind spirited debates over whether varying kinds of tax cuts have an effect on economic growth, job growth, or any other kind of growth. It is a factual statement that high taxes impede growth while low taxes do not (would you work if the tax rate was 100 percent?).
State Republican lawmakers are reluctant to increase the length of time the unemployed are eligible for benefits. Democrats and Gov. Brewer want to increase unemployment insurance from 79 weeks to 99 weeks. Some Republicans, therefore, have decided that in order to garner their vote in favor of 20 more weeks of unemployment insurance, there must be some kind of corresponding tax reduction. Tax cuts (the right kind – not these), Republicans argue, will help the overall economy.
In today’s Arizona Republic story on unemployment insurance, however, the article closed with:
Democrats questioned how another tax break would translate into an immediate job for many of the long-term unemployed.
But nearly two years of unemployment insurance does? I’m still waiting for one Democrat to go on the record saying that 20 more weeks of unemployment insurance reduces Arizona’s unemployment rate.
Recent Comments