This is Why Sumner Hates When the Public Has Opinions on Economics

     Some good news for President Obama. His popularity is rising-and the same is true of his tax plan. 

    "President Barack Obama’s plan to raise capital gains taxes on wealthy families is winning public approval, according to a new survey."

    "When asked whether they’d favor increasing the capital gains tax on stocks owned by households making more than $500,000 per year, 56 percent of those surveyed said they would, in the latest Associated Press-GfK poll. And 68 percent of respondents said wealthy households pay “too little” in federal taxes. Among middle-class households, 60 percent said that they’re paying too much."

    "A plurality of 47 percent also agreed that a fee should be instituted against financial institutions and banks with assets of more than $50 billion.

   Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/obama-capital-gains-tax-plan-115417.html#ixzz3SddPiQgw

    Sumner and his conservative friends only like taxes that hit the poor and middle class. 

    "A number of Republican-led states are considering tax changes that in many cases would have the effect of cutting taxes on the rich and raising them on the poor."

     "Conservatives are known for hating taxes but particularly hate income taxes, which they say have a greater dampening effect on growth. Of the 10 or so Republican governors who have proposed tax increases, nearly all have called for increases in consumption taxes, which hit the poor and middle class harder than the rich."

     "Favorite targets for the new taxes include gas, e-cigarettes, and goods and services in general. Gov. Paul R. LePage of Maine, who wants to start taxing movie tickets and haircuts, is also proposing a tax break for the lowest-income families to relieve some of the pressure."

      "At the same time, some of those governors — most notably Mr. LePage, Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina and John R. Kasich of Ohio — have proposed significant cuts to their state income tax. They say that tax policies that encourage business growth provide more jobs and economic benefits for everyone."

     http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/upshot/states-consider-increasing-taxes-on-poor-cutting-them-on-affluent.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1

     This is a misconception that they hate taxes: they hate them only for the rich. They are all for taxes at least as they're suitably regressive. Here's the unkindest cut of all though for these policies: they not only are not fair or good for the economy they also don't even cut the deficit:

     "A new report suggests that these states could be creating financial problems down the road. The strategy of shifting from income taxes to consumption taxes has caused huge budget shortfalls in Kansas and, more recently, North Carolina, which announced a budget shortfall of nearly half a billion dollars."

     "One reason, according to the report from the Keystone Research Center and Good Jobs First, two left-leaning think tanks, is that just as the tax burden has shifted away from the wealthy, the wealthy have received ahuge share of income growth in recent years."

     These GOP governors back in 2011 assured us their tax cuts for the rich wouldn't produce deficits because of 'dynamic scoring'; now they are making up for one mistake for another: raising consumption taxes.