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Why the Republicans Should Support a Tax Increase

Yes, that's right - the Republicans should support a tax increase.

Why? First, we are getting young men and women badly injured in battle, and when they return,they should get the finest medical attention available anywhere, period. And we now know that some of the VA hospitals are second rate. That is unacceptable, and we should be prepared to pay more in taxes so that our fighting personnel get the best.

Second, the dollar is quickly becoming a trash currency. When the Euro was at 8- cents, the dollar was likely overvalued. But now that the Euro has ripped through $1.50 and climbing, our currency is resembling the peso of the seventies. The deficits don't matter crowd has been proven decisively wrong; a key reason the dollar has sunk is eight years of massive spending higher than tax revenue. Since Congress and the Administration have proven to be spineless on spending restraint, we must raise taxes to begin to pay the bill. Otherwise, the dollar continues to sink, oil prices continue to rise, and the cycle reinforces. If we had a modest tax increase 4 or 5 years ago, coupled with a modicum of fiscal responsibility, we could have grown our way out of this mess. Now the gap is too big, and we'll have to incur several years of real pain to get our financial house in order.

The Republicans must be the fiscal adults here and deal with it.

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