Forget Election-Inspired Makeshift Rebate Goodies

From today's San Diego Tribune, "New Incentives, Not Fiscal Stimulus, Are the Best Way to Bolster a Slowing Economy":

The bottom line on fiscal stimulus to stave off or ameliorate a recession is this: None is needed for that purpose that wouldn't be good policy under more normal circumstances. Low marginal tax rates on income, capital gains and dividends are always good policy and largely pay for themselves by stimulating economic activity. They need to be lower, but the first urgent priority is to avoid making them higher by letting the Bush tax cuts expire and to make that clear as soon as possible to end the uncertainty.

Corporate tax rates should be lowered at least to the level of those of our trading partners and lower still if we can get our minds around the fact that corporations don't pay taxes, people do.

Eastern European countries are way ahead of us in fundamental tax reform as they implement flat, low income taxes. Do we have to sink to their previous levels before we have the courage to implement fundamental reform? When will we learn that what is taxed is destroyed; so taxes on consumption that exempt saving is key to continued dynamic income expansion. We don't need election-inspired makeshift rebate goodies from Washington under the guise of economic stimulus. We need to get real with fundamental reform worthy of this great nation.

~Bob McTeer, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas