Matt Yglesias

Georgia on My Mind

Note that if, as seems reasonably likely, third party candidates get enough votes in Georgia to ensure that neither Martin nor Chambliss gets fifty percent, Georgia law stipulates that there must be a runoff in December, rather than the seat going to the winner of the plurality. I have to assume that the ensuring nationwide attention to the race would probably work to Chambliss’ advantage, since “nationalizing” the contest should be helpful to a GOP candidate in a Republican state. On the other hand, it’s possible that post-election demoralization and disarray will make it difficult for Republicans to organize effectively.

Chambliss Doubles-Down on Neo-Hooverism

Saxby Chambliss makes his clearest statement yet in favor of a neo-Hooverite approach to the economic downturn, positioning himself to the right of Ben Bernanke:

Dustin asked him if he supports Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake’s call for a second stimulus package.

“Should we attach more debt to the current deficit for our children and grandchildren to pay, without knowing its going to help?,” Chambliss responded. “I think if I had to say today, I don’t think that’s a package I could support.”

Far better to let our children and grandchildren grow up amidst an endless depression is, I suppose, his take.

Chambliss Endorses Neo-Hooverism

Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia has apparently decided that fiscal contraction in the face of a recession is a good idea:

Congress should do its job by working to balance the federal budget deficit, Chambliss said.

“I ran in ‘94 on a balanced budget,” he said. “We did what we said we’d do. You’ve got to have a Congress that exercises fiscal discipline.”

Amidst the “automatic stabilizers” that kick in during a recession (i.e., declining tax revenue and increased demands on public assistance programs) the only way to achieve this would be through a massive combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that would threaten to push the world on a downward spiral toward a new depression. Even the professional deficit-worriers at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget are rejecting Chambliss-style neo-Hooverism and embracing the need for Keynsian stimulus at a time when the Federal Reserve has little ability to juice growth through monetary policy.

Leading Conservatives: Saxby Chambliss’ Tax Plans Are Crazy

Back during the dark ages of the 2008 GOP Presidential primary, there was a brief boom of support for Mike Huckabee that was swatted down furiously by the conservative establishment. They had some bad reasons for doing this, but also some good ones. Noteworthy in the annals of problems with Mike Huckabee was his embrace of something called the Fair Tax. What’s the Fair Tax? Well, as Jon Chait explained at the time:

It is difficult for me to find the words to explain just how crazy this idea is. The national sales tax is crazier, by an order of magnitude, than any other crazy idea I’ve seen at the national level. It’s so crazy that even really crazy right-wingers think it’s pretty crazy.

The crux of the Fair Tax plan is to eliminate all federal income taxes, and replace them with a 30 percent national retail sales tax, but then call the 30 percent tax a 23 percent tax. This is a real feature of the plan. They want to say that a tax that raises the price of goods from $1 to $1.30 is a 23 percent tax because $0.30 is 23 percent of $1.30 even though nobody calculates taxes this way. Anyways, yes, lots of conservatives think this is a crazy idea.

Examples!

– David Frum: “Economists and tax experts virtually unanimously agree that the plan is beyond unworkable — that it is downright absurd.”

– Ross Douthat: “Huckabee’s Fair Tax zeal and Paul’s anti-Fed enthusiasm are genuinely foolish.”

– Rich Lowry:

Mike Huckabee is not running a substance-free campaign based on biography and applause lines. No, the former Arkansas governor has the distinction of advocating the most radical — and politically unsalable and substantively daft — proposal of any major presidential candidate of either party.

It is the so-called FairTax. It would eliminate the income and payroll taxes and replace them with a (supposedly) 23-percent national sales tax. Not given to rhetorical understatement, Huckabee says, “When the FairTax becomes law, it will be like waving a magic wand releasing us from pain and unfairness.” Waving a magic wand is about right — since the FairTax is a bedtime story for IRS-hating conservatives.

– John Podhoretz: Fair tax is a “wild notion.”

One could go on. Suffice it to say that this is a truly crazy idea, and once upon a time the leading voices of American conservatism weren’t afraid to call it a crazy idea. And then there’s Saxby Chambliss who thinks the FairTax is great:

[Saxby] Chambliss reiterated his support of the sales tax. He said it lets consumers determine their tax rate based on their consumption levels.

“The fair tax is what is says it is — it’s fair,” Chambliss said.

I look forward to the aforementioned conservative thought-leaders weighing in on Chambliss’ endorsement of fantasyland policymaking.