The Future Speaker of the House hits Dems on the VAT

Earlier this month I made a couple posts focusing on how Democrats will likely resort to implementing a Value Added Tax in order to pay for the massive health care bill.

Well, Congressman Boehner's office took notice and e-mailed me the future Speaker's weekly column that focused on the issue:

"With Washington Democrats’ trillion-dollar government takeover of health care signed into law and the President’s $3.8 trillion budget on deck in Congress, our nation’s budget experts are sounding the alarm on the huge budget deficits and debt that are threatening our economy and undermining job growth.

“In a speech this week, Doug Elmendorf, director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, said that the nation’s fiscal path is ‘unsustainable.’ Similarly, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently warned that our nation must act to take on skyrocketing debt.

"This isn’t the first we’ve heard from economists and budget experts expressing concern about the impact of a trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ that isn’t creating jobs, a proposed budget with trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see, and a government takeover of health care that will increase the budget deficit by more than $200 billion, even with a staggering $569.2 billion in new tax increases.

“For months experts have been warning that Washington’s out-of-control government spending binge could lead to currency shock, inflation and crippling interest rates. Last year more than 222 economists issued a statement saying that reining in federal spending is needed to help small businesses get back to creating jobs again.

“Instead of heeding these warnings, the majority party in Washington continues to defy the will of the American people as it pursues budget-busting policies that destroy jobs and pile more debt on our kids and grandkids.

“In fact, Obama advisor Paul Volcker said recently that more taxes, specifically a job-killing European-style value-added tax (VAT) is needed. As you may be aware, a value-added tax is a tax added at each stage of a product’s path from production to consumption. In many European countries, a VAT of anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent is levied on the production of everything from cars to clothes to furniture, which is ultimately passed along to consumers in the form of higher costs.

“Instead of fueling even more government spending with new-job killing taxes that will only hurt middle-class families and small businesses, it’s time to put a stop to Washington’s out-of-control spending.

“Republicans have proposed real reforms to do just that. For example, Republicans have proposed adopting strict budget caps that limit federal spending on an annual basis and are enforceable by the President. These caps were a critical plank in the fiscally-responsible budget alternative Republicans, led by Budget Committee Ranking Republican Paul Ryan (R-WI), proposed last year and they are notably absent from the President’s budget. Without these caps, Washington will keep on growing and the federal budget deficit will continue to spiral out of control.

“In addition, earlier this year I joined House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) in a letter urging President Obama to work with Republicans to cut spending now to encourage job growth and reduce the national debt instead of simply punting tough spending decisions to a commission that won’t even issue a final report until the final months of 2010. We invited President Obama to use his presidential authority to send Congress a ‘rescissions’ package to force a debate on serious spending cuts, and pledged that if the president did so, Republicans would work with him to ensure his spending cut proposals were brought to a vote on the House floor. Unfortunately, the White House continues to remain silent on our offer in the months since it was put forth. Meanwhile, in Democratic-controlled Washington, the spending spree continues.

“Americans are asking ‘where are the jobs?’ but all they are getting from the Democrats who control Washington is more spending and more debt. The spending binge in Washington is mortgaging the future of our kids and grandkids and costing jobs right now.”

If the future Speaker of the House is worried about the VAT, and if Congressmen are making inquiries with the CBO about its implementation, shouldn't Ohioans have a chance to learn more about where the Representatives that gave us Obamacare stand on the issue?

We're waiting, Ohio media.