Cutting the Future
Back in 2002, the Democrats wanted to repeal portions of Bush’s future tax cuts. Republicans insisted on framing that as a tax increase, while Democrats insisted it was no such thing.
This week, Bush announced a plan to slow or halt the increase of Social Security benefits for middle- and upper-class people. Democrats, as far as I can understand, are saying these are cuts because the benefits would be lower than the current promised level of benefits.
So if today the law says my marginal income tax rate in five years is going to be X, and you want to change it to X + 5, are you raising my taxes? And if today the law says my social security benefits when I retire will be Y, and you want to change it to Y - 5, are you cutting my benefits? And does ANYONE have a consistent position on this type of math?