You could be forgiven for thinking that President Barack Obama wrote Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s June op-ed in The Washington Post. In the piece, Patrick (Obama?) writes of his consternation over what he calls the “radical right,” which opposes increasing “revenue” to cut the deficit. “Everyone … knows that reducing government spending and addressing revenue shortfalls have to be a part of the plan,” Patrick writes.
But Patrick’s record as governor reflects a disturbing view of economic policy, a view that forms the foundation of an anti-growth agenda that you can expect President Obama to mirror in deficit talks.
For example, to close Massachusetts’s structural budget deficits, Patrick has signed more than $1 billion in broad-based tax increases, including a 25% increase in the sales tax. I’ve lost count of how many times Massachusetts has “deferred” payments into the state’s pension plan under Patrick’s watch — which eventually will become a crushing burden that Democrats will propose to fix with more tax increases. (If you think a similar scenario might occur with Social Security or Medicare, you don’t need to think anymore — you’re right.)
While Obama talks about eliminating miniscule tax credits for “corporate jets,” he’s at the same time likely to defend, as Patrick does, the expanded use of market-distorting tax credits to create “green energy” jobs. President Obama signed billions of dollars worth of these tax credits into law, as you’ll recall, under his economic “stimulus” program. At the same time, Patrick (Obama?) will continue to express his disdain for “special tax benefits for oil companies,” but he should hope that Democrats in Washington don’t put him forward to talk about eliminating “special tax benefits” at all. That’s because Governor Patrick is one of America’s most ineffective users of the “tax credit” to create jobs.
Patrick better pray that no one asks him about Evergreen Solar, the recipient of more than $10 million in “tax and lease incentives” from his administration. Now, Evergreen Solar is shuttered, with its 800 jobs shipped to China and elsewhere. And on his next television appearance, Patrick probably won’t want to mention the millions in tax breaks given to mutual fund giant Fidelity, which shipped 1,100 jobs out of Massachusetts while the governor was on an unsuccessful trade junket to the United Kingdom.
President Obama wants the same thing that Governor Patrick and the rest of the Democratic Party want: broad-based tax increases, to kick the can down the road on entitlements and to keep tax breaks only for favored industries, regardless of their (in)effectiveness.
A better plan would be to restructure entitlements, simplify the tax code and lower marginal rates to stimulate economic growth. By reinstating a system of free enterprise, we can restore fairness and equity to the economy and create thousands of jobs in Massachusetts and throughout America. Companies like Evergreen Solar and Fidelity will stand on their own two feet, or not at all.
Governor Patrick likes to talk about taxes as “the price we pay for civilization.” But in what’s supposed to be a civilized debate over our nation’s crushing spending problem, it’s important that both sides have credibility. Patrick has none.
Barney Keller, a Massachusetts native, is Communications Director at the Club for Growth, a free-market advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.