Senators go on record over taxes

Harry Reid held the troops together on Wednesday and narrowly prevailed – at least symbolically – in the Democratic effort to increase the flow of other people’s money to Washington.

The resulting votes offer a contrast in political philosophy that should not be lost during this election year.

By a 54-45 vote the Senate rejected a Republican plan to maintain current income tax rates for everyone.

Then, in a 51-48 vote, the Senate approved a plan to raise income taxes on the “rich” – arbitrarily designated as individuals earning more than $200,000 a year or couples making a combined $250,000 – and to reinstate a punitive death tax.

The votes were along party lines – Republicans resisting higher taxes on anyone, Democrats arguing that the government must take more from those who are most successful.

Wednesday’s theater put a half dozen Senate Democrats with tough re-election battles in difficult positions. They weren’t eager to go on the record favoring tax increases.

For instance, just minutes after saying aye to the tax hikes, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat whose re-election is uncertain, ran for cover, saying she’d introduce a bill maintaining the current estate tax rates – essentially arguing to dismantle the legislation she had just supported.

The progressive mantra remains that the “rich” must “pay their fair share,” ignoring that the top 10 percent of earners paid 71 percent of all income taxes in 2009, while almost half of all workers paid nothing. Nor is this about deficit or debt reduction. A recent study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation concluded that taking half of the yearly income from every person making between $1 million and $10 million would decrease the nation’s debt by only 1 percent.

In truth, Washington couldn’t raise taxes high enough on anyone to solve the nation’s fiscal woes.

The Democratic tax hikes won’t be enacted just yet – they have no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House. But independent voters concerned about the country’s economic morass have a clear choice this November: Support those who believe higher taxes and more government intervention offer the best hope for recovery, or support those who hold otherwise.