Rudy's Taxing Problem

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Cesar Conda.

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Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani was recently in New Hampshire touting the 23 tax cuts he supposedly pushed through as mayor of New York City. He also announced his support for extending the Bush tax cuts and promoted other tax-relief measures he would advocate as president.

Upon closer inspection, however, Giuliani's record on taxes isn't as conservative as advertised. In fact, a nonpartisan independent organization found that Mayor Giuliani actually opposed significant tax cuts, and would have denied hundreds of millions of dollars in tax relief for New Yorkers had he gotten his way.

FactCheck.org, which is run by the non-partisan Annenberg School at the University Of Pennsylvania, has pointed out that Mayor Giuliani fought Republican efforts to kill the city's commuter tax, and actually went to court to keep it alive. In 1999, New York state senate Republicans called for an end to the tax, which amounted to .45 percent of earned income for most non-residents working in New York City. Giuliani not only opposed this tax cut, but said the commuter tax should be higher. The Giuliani administration went so far as to file suit to retain the tax, but ultimately and fortunately lost, which saved taxpayers in New York state, New Jersey, and Connecticut $360 million annually.

In another instance, FactCheck.org reported that Giuliani strenuously opposed a personal-income-tax-rate cut amounting to $469 million - but now claims credit for it as one of the 23 taxes he cut. In 1998, a 12.5 percent personal-income-tax surcharge was set to expire, but Giuliani fought to keep it in place, arguing that the city needed the tax revenue. A true supply-sider would have argued the opposite: Lower tax rates lead to higher tax revenue. The tax surcharge was allowed to expire only after Giuliani caved in to demands by the Democrats on the city council who supported killing the tax.

Rudy Giuliani's recent attempt to portray himself as Reaganite tax-cutter just doesn't square with the hard facts about his record opposing broad-based tax relief. The mayor honestly admits that he is more liberal than many Republicans on social issues, but has yet to admit that his economic record is similarly out of sync. Moreover, his refusal to sign Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" raises serious doubts among economic conservatives about his commitment to keeping income-tax rates low.

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[likeitis5050]

Why debate Rudy''s sincerity? Just ask any New Yorker living there during the Rudy Rein to know what kind of president he will make. He stabbed so many people in the back during that time that he will never climb out from under that haunting. He is a liar....period.

[cfin5]

Why should we vote for Rudy the Lib when he smacks off things like "Illegal immigration is not a crime"? I propose for him to pack up his bags and head for our southern border and cross it by river and stay there till their authorities pick him up. Let the Mexicans teach him a nice healthy lesson on what "ILLEGAL" means.....Romney has all he needs to keep up a whoopin'' on Giuliani for the rest of the campaign!

[brianbwb-2009]

National Review Online: Giuliani%u2019s Record On Taxes Isn%u2019t As Conservative As Advertised

International Brian online: NRO Endorses Anything Branded With The Label Conservative, Even An Illegal Budget-Busting War.

As do most fake neocons, if infanticide were branded as conservative, the neocons would be in favor.

I was going to say child rape instead of infanticide, but recent events suggest that neocons are already in favor of that.

[marcodele]

Walt, hysterical!

Yes, it is easy for national leaders to shift tax burdens to the states and say "I cut taxes!"

But the interest on our national debt is ticking like a million dollar VISA card at 29.9% interest.

Bush had never had to account for, or pay for, anything in his life. It''s a shame the U.S. budget became his personal toy.

[walt1944-2009]

Rudy Giuliani has pledged to make permanent the tax cuts "invented" by the Great Emperor Bush II and to increase those cuts even further. To offset these cuts, Giuliani intends on creating an "escort service tax" to be levied at any escort services, brothels, and "houses of ill repute", particularly those frequented by Congressmen.

He also plans on charging a fee for the use of any stalls in men''s rooms both public and private.

Rudy feels that the income from these new fees will more than offset any shortfalls in the income tax and might even reduce the national debt!

Naturally, such measures have drawn "stiff" opposition from most members of Congress, especially Republican neocons who stress "family values"!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[hypnotoad72]

I''ll agree, supporting too many tax cuts has added to the deficit and I think Rudy understands that too.

Rudy vs Hillary, I''d rather see Rudy get elected. As many countries do not respect women at all, what use will a woman leader be when trying to convince them to stop killing or anything else unsavory? Besides, Hillary answered her own comment about helping the middle class: By helping more temporary H1B people. In short, she had made two statements completely incompatible with one another and thus lost all credibility.

I should find out what Rudy thinks of the issues, but I definitely don''t trust Hillary right now.

Still, the electioneering cycle is young. Time and candidates'' statements will tell.

[marcodele]

Rudy is a total hypocrite. He will represent the GOP very well as their nominee.

[cfin5]

I don''t care what "Rudy the Lib" says now. He might be wearing a sheep costume at the moment, but every time he talks I see higher tax WOLF FANGS inside of his lips. Media make-up artists are better than cosmetic artists these days huh?!.......Goes for Hilliary the socialist too.