Prepare yourself for the Cons 2008 tag line

[Norquist Nemesis]

Taxes and Terrorism

BOO!!!

Seriously, this is going to be the foundation of their "message". Everything will stem from "Taxes and Terrorism". Before you pooh-pooh and laugh...listen to what they're saying. This morning on CSPAN, the call-in question was "Is it time to raise taxes?". And you don't have to listen closely to hear them invoking Ronald Reagan.

We can disagree, but if we're not prepared to take them on and re-frame this message to our advantage EARLY ON...well, I'm just sayin'.

[station agent]

1. Well if we don't raise taxes for the next two years

They can't use that one and the terror thing is over with anyway.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. The one thing about the "taxes"

and the biggest reason why they've been able to capture it to their advantage is the subjectiveness of the term.

"Is it time to raise taxes?" seems to me a very broad question. Which taxes? Personal income tax, state, local, corporate, sales, etc., etc., etc.? IMO, Democrats need to be very precise about this. They need to force every Con who tries to pull the "Raise your Taxes" card to admit that their policies involuntarily raised taxes at state and local levels.

[ieoeja]

5. The lie: "Democrats never saw a tax they didn't like".

That was the saying they used in my childhood. In reality it should read:

Democrats never saw a tax they DID like, except the Income tax.
Republicans never saw a tax they did NOT like, except on Income tax.


Of course, that isn't technically correct either. They are against the estate tax, for instance. The real difference seems to be that Democrats tax what you have while Republicans tax what you give. So Republicans like sales taxes, tariffs, toll roads, etc.

The really weird thing is that they so often like to frame their argument using "incentive". That should be the argument AGAINST Republican tax policies.

"Income taxes lower a person's incentive to make more money," Republicans say. Who in the hell doesn't want more money?!?

Conversely, they so no disincentive to sales taxes and the like. Yet, Republicans gleefully pass "sin" taxes on beer and wine for the stated purpose of driving people away from alcohol. And they are incapable of seeing that the two are one and the same.

[kentuck]

3. Americans don't want high taxes but they don't want huge deficits either...

They believe in paying for what you want. Democrats plan on doing that. We don't believe in putting everything on the credit card for our children to bear in the future.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. It will be "You gave the Dems a chance, what have they gotten done? Let us take over and we'll

do it right."

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Poppy and Reagan signed two of the largest tax hikes in history.

I don't get the "meme's" "effectiveness."