A strategy that would help the Dems win.

[loudnclear]

Everyone gets to talk about taxes..either to raise them or cut them. It would go a long way if just one of the Dem candidates would explain (in simple terms with examples) what our taxes pay for, the relation to state and local taxes, medicare, medicaid, farm subsidies, military, corporate subsidies, jobs, etc. It would also be great to reproduce that map that Clinton used to show the actual input of taxes by states and cities compared to the amount of taxes received by those same states and cities. It will show that most of the taxes are paid on the costs while must of the tax benefit is spent in the mid-west and south. I envision a series of 30 sec campaign spots titled "This is what your taxes pay for" show the elderly, the children, the poor, the military, the police, etc.

I also envision a series of 30 sec spots that show the statements of some of the Republicans..a series of about three or four statements..like Pat Robertson's statement about blowing up the State Department or any of the million bad things Rush and Hannity and some Repuke Congressmen have said and some other statements about how bad our government is from some "journalists." And then ask what evil nation said those things about our government? And then say, "no evil nation said those things about our governemnt...The REv Pat Robertson and Congressman (whoever) said those things about your government. Do you want people like this in charge of your government or influencing your government?
People would be amazed.

[JDavidChadwick]

1. What I thnk

Well, from watching the Democrat debates, I have come to a conclusion. We really don't know what any of these guys are really about. If they would come out and say what their plan is beyond getting Bush out (which is still important for Democrats) that would greatly improve their chances in Iowa and New Hampshire. Personally, I like Howard Dean's chances if he would come out and say "Hi, I'm Howard Dean and when I get in the White House I am going to do this, this and this."

[LTR]

2. How about this thought

If taxes were raised but raising taxes would boost the economy and increase the size of your paychecks, would you favor raising tazes?

Bigger paychecks are bigger paychecks. Of course, I am biased, since I work in a commission-based field, and the state of the economy does have some bearing on how much I get paid.

[RichM]

3. I agree with your general idea here. Would-be leaders should play the

role of "teacher" far more often. They should be expected to educate. Simple charts & graphs could be very useful.

The public does not understand the basic mechanism of the tax money-flows. You're quite right about this. In standard campaigns, the appeal is made to the most base instincts: something like "My opponent will make your taxes higher than I will, so you should hate him more." This crudeness completely obscures the fact that every single tax (& spending) proposal distributes its burden & its benefits very unequally.

The leading current example is the spending in Iraq. There seems to be some general awareness that the recent $87 billion is in effect money taken from the US Treasury. However, it's not really appreciated that a great deal of this money gets cycled back into the Halliburtons & Bechtels, so that in effect, it is a simple plundering of the taxpayers' Treasury. The Democrats are not making this point well, either. There are one-line barbs in the debates about "Halliburton," that sound too much like sly quips & "insider jokes." Effort should be made to explain clearly -- with a nice big chart -- exactly how the money is flowing from taxpayer to Treasury to Pentagon to Halliburton & back to Cheney, the GOP, & all the other fat cats & criminals behind the war.

[Silverhair]

4. Remember Perot's campaign?

He used a lot of charts, made a 30 minute long TV spot, and got 20% of the vote. And that's afer the start/stop/start campaign of his.