Just in my inbox:
Dear Mr. Mayor:
As you know, the Club for Growth has not been shy in praising
your economic record in New York City. Because of your strong
opposition to tax increases and your vocal support for free-market
solutions, we were surprised and concerned to read the allegation
in a recent Associated Press article that you indicated you would
not rule out raising Social Security taxes in order to deal with
the program's insolvency.
Such an allegation, if true, together with your refusal to sign
Americans for Tax Reform's anti-tax pledge, casts doubt on your
commitment to opposing all tax increases.
We urge you to explicitly rule out raising taxes as part of any
Social Security remedies. Raising taxes is completely unnecessary
in a climate of unprecedented wasteful spending in Washington, and
would exacerbate the central problem of the Social Security
program, namely, the low rate of return workers earn on their
contributions and the dependency it fosters on government. We also
favor a proposal that will allow younger workers the option of
investing their Social Security taxes in higher-return personal
savings accounts. As someone who has spoken at length of empowering
individuals when it came to reforming welfare in New York City, we
are confident you understand the importance of empowering
individuals in their retirement years. Finally, we encourage you to
sign Americans for Tax Reform's anti-tax pledge to erase any doubt
as to your opposition to tax hikes.
We look forward to hearing a clarification and proposal from
you.
Sincerely,
Pat Toomey
President, Club for Growth
UPDATE:
This is how the AP story in question read:
[Giuliani] Refused to rule out raising taxes to offset a Social
Security shortfall. He said he would assemble a bipartisan group to
develop ideas for fixing Social Security, perhaps even before his
inauguration.
"I am opposed to tax increases, but I would look at whatever
proposal they came up with and try to figure out how we can come up
with a bipartisan way to do it," Giuliani said, adding that
potential solutions must come from both parties. "The reality is,
I'm more concerned about Medicare and Medicaid than I am with
Social Security, because I'm pretty sure we can solve Social
Security."
Giuliani would be wise to take the
oppourtunity to rule out Social Security tax increases. There is no
room for parsing here. From a policy perspective, increasing taxes
would hamper economic growth and only defer the structural problems
with Social Security, just as every past increase has done. And
from a political perspective, given Giuliani's differences with
social conservatives, he can ill afford to alienate economic
conservatives by being wobbly on tax policy.
I have contacted the Giuliani campaign and
will post their response as soon as I have it.
topics:
Taxes, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare
