C&L caught Matthews' show this week-end featuring a panel with Clarence Page, Katty Kay, Trish Regan, Joe Klein talking about the economy:
Among other things, Matthews brought up what I expect is going to rise to the top of the issue agenda for the fall: the promise to let the Bush tax cuts sunset as planned. In this conversation they are talking about additional tax cuts, beyond those.
Matthews: Clarence, would Democratic progressives and middle of the road Democrats buy the idea that if the only way to stimulate the economy for 2012, let's be honest, that's what we're working on right now...
Page: Right.
Matthews: ...we have to have a tax cut of some kind.
Page: Well only if it hits those at the bottom. If you'd expand earned income tax credit or give some kind of a job incentive, but I disagree that he ought to call off the Bush tax cuts.
Matthews: You think he ought to go back to the higher rates.
Page: It's not going to win Democrats.
Matthews: You say go back to the high rates, go back to...
Page: Absolutely.
Regan: Isn't there something inherently Un-American about the more money you make, the more money we're going to take from you.
Klein: No. No!
Regan: Even if they're not making $250,000 a year as a couple, you may aspire to make that and the government's going to take more. (crosstalk)
Klein: It's called the progressive income tax for a reason. Now conservatives want to abolish the income tax. That is so radical.
Regan: But you're discouraging productivity. (crosstalk) You're discouraging work.
Klein: So you want to hurt the people who are already hurting.
Page: Right.
Regan: What I'm saying is you don't necessarily want to discourage productivity. You want the country to grow.
It would seem that Regan is saying the economy is in the ditch because people who make more than $250,000 are refusing to work hard and be productive because their taxes are too high --- and it's un-American to ask anything more of them. Have I got that right? It's an interesting point of view.
There is a lot of agitation about the expiration of the tax cuts, but it hasn't bubbled up completely yet. I think we're going to have a debate about it. And I have absolutely no sense if the Dems are going to fight for it.