April 22, 2010
The Washington Post ran a news article complaining that value added taxes are not being taken more seriously in debates over the budget. (A value added tax is effectively a national sales tax that would impose taxes in proportion to consumption.) The first sentence complained that the lack of interest in this tax stemmed from the “hyperpartisan political atmosphere” in Washington.
“Hyperpartisan” is a peculiar term to use in the context of the deficit debate since it actually does not divide people closely along partisan lines. There are both people on the left and right who argue that concerns on the deficit have been hugely overblown. There are also many deficit hawks in both political parties. “Hyperpartisan” is a favorite term of the people connected with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, but apart from this association, there is no obvious reason that it should appear in the budget debate.
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