California Republicans’ nutty economic “recovery” idea

Republicans like to recall Ronald Reagan. But do they remember how Reagan brought back prosperity in the 1980s?

The latest nutty Republican scheme comes from State Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas. They…

have introduced bills that would provide tax incentives for home buyers on state and federal levels, respectively.

In each case, the tax breaks would be temporary, aimed simply at helping to restart the moribund housing industry and its associated businesses.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, guys. That’s dumb, dumb, dumb.

Superficially, it’s appealing because it’s “tax incentives,” and we all want lower taxes don’t we? Especially if we’re good Republicans?

But tax cuts are worthless if they’re temporary. People and businesses look to the long term.  They only move into a house if they think that, in the long term, they can afford it by earning decent wages to pay the mortgage.

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About John Seiler

I was an editorial writer at The Orange County Register for 19 years, until I took a buyout in 2006.