Shorter Rudy: Tax Cuts Pay For Tax Cuts

Rudy Giuliani made the bizarre statement that lost revenue from cutting or eliminating the alternative minimum tax could be paid for by making the Bush tax cuts permanent.

"Over time we can figure out how to eliminate it. ... If we were going to eliminate it, though, we'd have to balance it with additional tax cuts," Giuliani said, leaving confused expressions on his audience. "That might be by making the Bush tax cuts permanent."

The AMT was created to eliminate loopholes in the tax code. Over 50 percent of people taxed under AMT make over $200,000-a-year. A way to make AMT less regressive is to adjust it to inflation. Getting rid of the tax during a war and budget deficit is stupidity. AMT brings in a $100 trillion-a-year. How does Giuliani plan to pay for the ten new combat brigades he wants? He is in for a shock if he thinks supply side economics really works.

Kevin Drum wants people to take Rudy to task for his statements.

Please. Just for once, can we hold this guy responsible for what he says? Sure, he misspoke, but he misspoke because he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about and blurted out the first thing that came to mind: namely that reducing taxes is the answer to every question. Nobody with even the vaguest idea of what it meant to eliminate the AMT would say that it had to be balanced by reducing other taxes.

Remember when George Bush wasn't able to name the president of Pakistan back in the 2000 campaign? Everyone laughed it off. But this isn't a game of gotcha. Nobody forces Rudy to say this stuff. He just flatly doesn't know what he's talking about. He's a buffoon. It's time for the press corps to take notice and quit giving him a pass on this stuff.

Campaign reporters don't write about economics. Mainly, because they don't have the background or training in the field. Editors need to stress economics more in presidential campaign coverage. One of these candidates will win the Oval Office and run policy for the world's biggest economic power.

Rudy is running for President of the United States, not Student Council. He is an educated man. He should have a basic understanding of economics. The fact that he knows not what he says shows lazy critical-thinking-skills. His statement that tax cuts pay for other tax cuts is the equivalent of a person getting a lower paying job to pay his bills.